“Fashion is everything” – and it should be for everyone, according to London-based charity Thread Ahead.
Young asylum seekers had the chance to browse, try on and pose for a photoshoot in high-end streetwear at Thread Ahead’s pop-up event at the end of 2023. The event, which took place in Edwin’s showroom in Shoreditch, London saw 13 young asylum seekers take home three brand new items of their choice.
Thread Ahead partners with brands and businesses to redirect unsold clothes and accessories away from incineration or landfill, offering them to people with insecure immigration status at free pop-up events across London instead. Items from Supreme, A-COLD-WALL*, Nike, Carhartt and more were available at their most recent pop-up.
In the last year alone, the charity has helped over 700 people with insecure immigration status access quality clothing. The charity is heavily reliant on support from London’s creative community, with DJ Fred Again, rapper Kojey Radical and Loyle Carner’s creative direction team amongst its donors.
At the recent pop-up event, young asylum seekers pulled together pieces they liked with the help of a stylist. A photographer was on hand all day to take professional, photo-shoot style images of them in their outfits of choice.
Goitam, a 25-year-old asylum seeker from Ethiopia, said: “It’s an amazing experience to be with a stylist – they have a different way of seeing things and putting things together. Fashion is self-expression, so to discover that with the help of a stylist is helpful.”
Samrawit, a 23-year-old asylum seeker from Eritrea, said: “I never thought I’d do any kind of photoshoot. Usually, I’d be studying or working – I didn’t know I had the ability to do something more. It feels amazing.”
“Fashion has to do with life, how we choose to look and feel. Fashion is everything.”
“[Today] made me feel like I achieved one of my dreams. I want to be a model or do fashion, so I was so excited,” said Dhay, a 22-year-old asylum seeker from Saudi Arabia. “[Today] gave me the confidence to say – tomorrow, I’m going to start a [fashion] YouTube channel and do some designing.”
The pop-up event was organised in partnership with two of Thread Ahead’s referral partners: Breadwinners, a charity that supports young asylum seekers through selling bread, and Springboard, a charity which fills support gaps in the UK school system for young asylum seekers.
Since August, there has been a 140% increase in destitution among refugees in the UK. Alongside its ongoing work with brands, Thread Ahead is hosting a ticketed winter coats pop-up at Old Street on 24 and 25 January 2024, which is open to anyone with insecure immigration status.
Thread Ahead hold regular, ticketed pop-up events across London every two to three months, in which they offer a range of brand-new clothes, accessories and toiletries, including period products, to people with insecure immigration status. More information about how to support their work and events can be found here.
Videographer – Anna Kerr
Photographer – Luke Miller