Delivered by Colèchi
In 2024, the Foundation for Future London awarded a grant to Colèchi for its project “The East London Knitwear Collective” through our Medium Grant Scheme, a hybrid version of their in-person knitting club.
The Medium Grant Scheme is part of our Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund, funded by Westfield Stratford City.
We will develop The East London Knitwear Collective, a hybrid version of our in-person knitting club. The collective will invite 20 people based in and around East London to better understand the fashion and clothing industry through an education programme and an opportunity to work with our UK suppliers to produce a capsule collection. In the winter we will launch a pop-up inviting knitting and crochet designers to sell and share skills at the heart of East London.
YKWU (You can Knit With Us) is Colèchi’s very own knitting club that launched in 2022 and has since travelled across London communities, hosting sessions at the likes of the Saatchi Gallery, Barbican and Somerset House. We started YKWU as a way to encourage people to take part in the art of producing fashion through knitting; and to change the idea of who can knit.
Each session emphasises skill sharing, multigenerational learning and making new connections. YKWU collaborates with knitwear designers, yarn producers and educators to allow an explorative reconnection with traditional clothes making.
The regular knitting club is in collaboration with The Lab E20 and Get Living and takes place on the last Sunday of each month from 12pm in Stratford.
To partner with us or join the collective email info@colechi.com or visit ykwu.colechi.com.
Check out their Substack: ykwu.substack.com
Transforming lives and careers of people in East London
Westfield Stratford City is London’s most popular shopping destination by footfall, located in London’s fastest growing area