St James, part of the Berkeley Group has announced it is working in partnership with Prof. Jimmy Choo’s JCA | London Fashion Academy to create the first JCA pop-up – JCA Retail Gallery – in West London, located within its development, White City Living, W12.
The JCA Retail Gallery will join a number of existing commercial outlet at White City Living, opening on November 11 until the end of the month. It has been designed to provide an opportunity for its students studying fashion, to showcase, market and sell their designs in an authentic retail environment , culminating with the opportunity to take part in ‘Best of the Best’ fashion show hosted by St James and JCA at White City Living, at the end of the month.
Katie Thompson, sales & marketing director, St James explains: “We’re excited to be part of this immersive experience, combining retail, fashion and design, which will provide both current JCA students and alumni with a unique opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial skills as well as showcasing their creativity. We hope that introducing the JCA Retail Gallery into the White City innovation district, renowned for world-class retail, entertainment, education, culture and commerce, will help foster the next generation of design talent.”
Being implemented in three phases, this academic project will enable JCA students to get real-life, hands- on experience of the demands of entering the retail environment, during their study programme.
Phase one: The JCA Retail Gallery: part exhibition, part pop-up store, is the first-of-its-kind shopping experience. It will give students a raw and immersive introduction to the complexities of entering the retail market – from concept development to execution – participants will gain firsthand insight into what it takes to successfully launch a brand, build customer relationships, and engage in commerce.
An e-commerce platform will simultaneously launch on 5th November to sell the participating JCA designer collections.The online store will then continue to promote and sell the collections of JCA students and alumni for years to come, ensuring that young designers leave the JCA with at least one retail outlet to give them a revenue stream upon graduation.
Phase two: A curated group of the designers from the academy’s current third-year and MA students alongside alumni from the past three years will then be selected by an industry panel to be part of the JCA ‘Best of the Best’ Show on the theme of ‘Reflection’, on 28th November.
Phase three:
JCA students have also been invited to participate in a Scarf Design Competition, where they will have the chance to create a unique silk scarf design. The winning design will be produced and then gifted to St James’ clients. This competition not only provides a platform for emerging designers to showcase their creativity but also offers them the opportunity to see their work brought to life for an exclusive audience.
Professor Jimmy Choo OBE comments: ‘Entrepreneurship within creative industries is at the heart of what we teach at the JCA. Even the most talented of fashion designers will fail if they have no business acumen. At the beginning of my career, I worked directly in-store with my customers – that facetime and their feedback was vital to my success in the early years. Through our partnership with St James, we hope our students at the JCA will also benefit hugely from this opportunity. 2024 signified our first class of JCA undergraduates heading out into industry, therefore it was important for us as an institution to give them a launchpad to make the best of it.”
Lucy Choi, JCA director comments: ‘By providing a platform for these emerging designers to showcase their talents, the JCA x St James Group partnership will empower students to embrace challenges and prepares them to meet the demands of a competitive landscape with confidence and skill. Setting up a store from its raw inception: line sheets, VM, customer service, social media plans and more; to producing a fashion show for over 200 guests is all part of the learning process at the JCA. It’s imperative we give all of our students and our alumni the skills needed in order to have the very best chance of success in what is currently a very tough fashion climate.’’
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