BFC creates digital educational platform with Google

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Dec 5, 2016

The British Fashion Council and Google’s Art & Culture team have collaborated on a free digital educational project featuring specially curated content and stories from top British designers, brands and creatives.

Creating a single digital destination to educate and inspire, the platform g.co/britishfashion, celebrates the British fashion industry with over 1,000 digital assets.

The project will provide digital experiences such as multimedia exhibits, videos and virtual reality interactions that can be accessible on desktop, laptop or mobile.

Highlights include a super-high resolution capture of an Alexander McQueen couture dress, allowing people to zoom in and see its threadwork in never-before-seen detail; Manolo Blahnik at work in virtual-reality at his London atelier; and curated exhibits from and about fashion legends and brands including Burberry, Browns, David Bailey, Edward Enninful, Erdem, i-D, J.W.Anderson, Michael Howells, Naomi Campbell, Paul Smith, Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood.

The Google site will also showcase decades of British craftsmanship from Harris Tweed Hebrides, John Lobb shoes, Lochcarron Tartan and the Royal School of Needlework, and visitors will be able to get close to some of the biggest moments of British fashion, such as Kate Moss’ first runway show. Profiles of key players, from Naomi Campbell to Christopher Bailey, will be also available to explore.

“We hope this legacy project will not only inspire but also educate – allowing young people wanting to get into fashion to see the breadth of individuals, skills and careers that make up this multifaceted industry,” said Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council.

Amit Sood, director of Google’s Cultural Institute added: “British Fashion has such a unique and revered place within the international fashion industry, and is hugely rich in content, characters, icons and stories.”

The exhibition will be available online and through the new Google Arts & Culture mobile app on iOS and Android.

To celebrate the launch of the upcoming London Fashion Week Men’s in January, the site will feature a Spotlight on Menswear featuring content from Dylan Jones, Jim Chapman and Nick Knight.