McQueen builds on education links with Tower Hamlets community youth project

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Nov 9, 2021

Education and philanthropy are “hugely important” to Alexander McQueen, so the luxury fashion house is continuing to build on both these ideals.

The business has further “cemented” its links with A Team Arts Education (ATAE), a community youth arts education organisation located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Over the coming year, Alexander McQueen will support the organisation financially and further extend the workshops and classes with the young people and teachers it began as a pilot during 2020.

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The closer relationship is being built through one of the educational outreach programmes of workshops that creative director Sarah Burton has been running with its in-house design team members throughout the pandemic. 

While other Alexander McQueen educational schemes connect with colleges and university students nationally, the association with A Team Arts Education “forges a practical link with younger people locally through its dynamic and free art-led school holiday and Saturday programmes”, it noted.

The ATAE works to support the “aspirations of young people to enter arts and design careers" and “acts as a catalyst for progress and attainment in an inner-London district with one of the fastest-growing, youngest and most diverse populations in the UK”, the house said.

And it’s an initiative that’s close to the heart of the both the brand’s founder and Burton.

“It feels especially important for us to be able to take part in supporting young people from the East End of London, where Lee Alexander McQueen grew up. At this house we all know that talent comes from everywhere, irrespective of background,” noted Burton. 

She added: “At a time when UK arts education is narrowing and being cut and young people are under pressure, we’re inspired and humbled to be able to join with A Team Arts Education in their exceptional grass-roots work in providing fashion, textiles and art and design programmes.”

Sarbjit Natt, director of A Team Arts Education, added: “Working with Alexander McQueen will provide inspiration, hope and opportunities to an area that has established links to the fashion and textiles industries that are now hidden through layers of history and a changing urban landscape. The collaboration will help the arts to flourish in a positive way for young people and the wider community of East London.”