Trend to traid Industry Collaboration Project with FE Fashion Communication and Visual Communication Students
live-project
Trend to traid was a three-week industry collaboration between Foundation students in Fashion Communication and Visual Communication Design at Ravensbourne University and London charity retailer traid, running from 1 December 2025 to 8 January 2026
The project challenged students to investigate and forecast key social, political, cultural, and environmental influences; trends which will be shaping the Spring/Summer 2026 fashion season (launching February 2026), and to translate this research into a cohesive, cross-disciplinary proposal for traid.
Working in collaborative teams and adopting specialist industry roles, from Trend Forecaster and Art Director to Brand Manager, Stylist and Store Concept Designer, students stepped beyond traditional pathway boundaries to develop a professionally presented pitch document and window concept.
Their task was not only to predict emerging aesthetics and consumer behaviours, but to articulate how these trends could be meaningfully adapted and applied within traid’s mission to promote circular fashion, climate responsibility and social impact.
At the start of the project, students were invited to visit traid’s head office to gain first-hand insight into the journey of donated clothing — from collection and sorting through to distribution across their London stores. This gave them valuable context about the scale, organisation, and impact of the company’s work.
A key highlight of the project was a styling masterclass led by industry expert Jo Shippen, who introduced students to the principles of visual merchandising and store concept design. The session helped bridge creative thinking with commercial awareness, encouraging students to consider both aesthetic and customer experience.
These skills were then applied in the final fashion campaign shoot. Students worked to mirror industry practice, developing a campaign to promote their trend direction and store concept installation. The shoot took place in the photography studio, expertly supported by photography lecturer Tiana Lea and the technical assistants Edison Ling, Davida Popovaite, and Kirtana Rajeev. Giving students a realistic and professional production experience.
Each student also produced a detailed trend pack, presenting their final outcomes and creative proposals directly to the traid team — Jose Baladron Head of Brand Partnerships, Lizzie Hughes Brand and Communications Lead and, Saijel Minnis Marketing and Content. This experience gave them valuable insight into client presentation, professional communication, and industry expectations.
Final Photoshoot Images
“We want to say thank you so much to traid, as this is an amazing experience for all of us, and we are really excited to see our ideas go into the store and come to life.”
Emmi MacArthur (Store Concept Designer for the winning team)
“What I found most interesting about visiting the traid warehouse was the process of sourcing the clothes and having to think about how I could take a jumper and use it as a skirt or use a bedsheet and turn it into padding for an outfit, and rework items that matched our trend.”
Joe Penny (Stylist for the winning team)
“I designed and led this project to enable students to develop meaningful outcomes that balance creative exploration with industry expectations. The project was structured to encourage innovative thinking while ensuring alignment with client needs and defined objectives. Supported by colleagues Matthew McGuiness, Fiona Quadri, and Sidney Belle Turner, who contributed specialist teaching and refinement throughout, the initiative provided students with a deeper understanding of professional standards and insight into the positive impact traid is having within the sector.”
Dannielle Phillip – Senior Lecturer FE Fashion Communication Pathway
Group Winners
The wining group members are: Joe Penny (Fashion Communication pathway), Lily Hughes, Emmi Macarthur , Arun Mellish, Tallulah Morris, and Poppy Wormold (Visual Communication Design)
The winning group will work alongside Mark Lawerence, Visual Merchandiser at traid, to install their final fashion campaign in the Lewisham store window. Their campaign posters and styled looks will be brought to life in a professional retail setting, translating their creative vision into a live storefront display.
The window will feature selected images from the final fashion shoot, alongside key garments and styled looks developed as part of the project. The installation will be on display from 20th –27th February, with additional coverage featured on the Traid website.
Store Design
Tom
The project involved FE Fashion Communication pathway and FE Visual Communication Design pathway students.
This project was designed and led by Dannielle Phillip and Sidney Belle Turner, with valuable contributions from colleagues across the course team. Specialist teaching and creative input were provided by Matthew McGuiness, Fiona Quadri, Tiana Lea (Photography), alongside industry insight from Jo Shippen (Styling and Visual Merchandising) and Mia Maxwell (Styling and Art Direction).
We are also grateful to the traid team — including Jose Baladron, Lizzie Hughes, Saijel Minnis, for their collaboration, feedback, and continued support in creating an authentic industry experience for our students. A special thank you to Helen Sadler, and Mark Lawerence Visual Merchandiser at traid, for supporting the final window installation.
Students work was also posted on the traid website: https://traid.org.uk/ravensbourne-university-london-2026/
Final Store Design