1 Granary Teams With the Bear Scouts on Sustainability-focused Partnership
LONDON — 1 Granary, the London-based education and design platform born out of a Central Saint Martins student-led magazine has reached a partnership with The Bear Scouts, an international production and supply specialist that aims to provide access to technical innovations and implement sustainable solutions for young talents.
Olya Kuryshchuk, founder of 1 Granary, said this collaboration signals a strategic shift in focus for the group. Now, 1 Granary will move beyond the promotion of change and focus more on the creation of “innovative, forward-thinking and responsible products.”
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“Young creative minds often do not know how to access sustainable innovations, as the industry made production invisible, isolating independent production facilities. That is why 1 Granary is dedicating itself to bridging this gap between design and production, idea and execution,” Kuryshchuk said.
She added that the partnership with the Bear Scouts is a first step in this new strategy, which aims to assure anything that’s created with its support considers the environment first.
“As our industry grapples with an environmental crisis, young designers are often brought forward as harbingers of change without being given any of the tools to actually implement it. That is why this partnership will also focus on a structural re-education of the industry, rethinking the relationship between young brands and producers.
“Through the Bear Scouts wide-reaching global connections, we can access an unparalleled network of material and technical innovation. In the flexible, agile and forward-thinking hands of young designers, these innovations can be tested and perfected to spread out to the industry at large,” she added.
Dio Kurazawa, founder of the Bear Scouts, said with this collaborative effort, he wants to start normalizing brands visiting the factory from idea until the sample is finished.
“That to me doesn’t have as much to do with their sampling process. But more to do with exposing them to the supply chain as it is at the moment and where it’s going. Because that education and knowledge help them to disrupt the way they create things,” he said.
Since its inception a decade ago, 1 Granary has become one of the most active advocates via its annual print issue, website and social media channels promoting emerging fashion talents who come out of some of the most prestigious fashion schools every year.
Through initiatives like VOID and Child Showroom, as well as individual mentoring and consulting, the platform has also assisted in the development of multiple fashion design businesses, including Chopova Lowena, KNWLS, Ranra, Paolina Russo and Talia Byre.
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