Sustainable Young Makers - Cohort 2 announced
The second cohort of The Sustainable Young Makers Programme is announced alongside a new weaving residency at The Textile Reuse Hub.
The Sustainable Young Makers Programme 2025 will support six young people aged 18-30 who live or work in the London Borough of Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest to establish their creative businesses using sustainable approaches. A further three young makers will benefit from a weaving residency programme.
The Sustainable Young Makers programme is based at The Textile Reuse Hub, a partnership initiative from Hackney Wick and Fish Island Community Development Trust and Yodomo Ltd, supported by SEGRO, The Trampery and the Mayor of London. The Textile Reuse Hub is home to The Sustainable Young Makers Programme and supports local young people to establish their creative businesses and learn key business and sustainability skills by working closely alongside Yodomo’s professional maker community and its materials.
This year’s programme will run until May 2025 and offers support, mentorship and access to resources and insights into the creative industry to help them to upscale their creative businesses responsibly.
Throughout the programme, the Sustainable Young Makers will benefit from:
- A 6-week business development programme with the Yodomo team at the Textile Reuse Hub
- 1-2-1 mentorship with leading fashion and textile industry leaders
- Access to networks and bespoke events tailored to their needs
- Membership at The Trampery at Fish Island during the programme
At the end of each programme, the Sustainable Young Makers share their progress with wider industry networks as part of a showcase event.
The cohort for 2025 is:
Fyona Seguin is a textile and fashion innovator dedicated to sustainability through Looply, a community-driven initiative that upcycles single-use soft plastics into functional, reusable products. With a multidisciplinary background in arts and design, Fyona explores the intersection of material transformation, storytelling, and environmental impact to challenge traditional perceptions of waste and actively engages communities in circular design, fostering a deeper connection between people, materials, and sustainable practices in the fashion industry.
Grace Parker is a fashion designer with a passion for storytelling through clothing, shaped by a lifelong love of dressing up and a Fashion Design degree from RMIT University. Grace has hands-on experience through internships with Richard Quinn, Conner Ives, and Ciment Pleating, as well as costume design and corsetry studies. With a broad interest spanning womenswear, costume, and styling exploring creating one-of-a-kind pieces using deadstock to reduce waste. Grace is committed to creating striking yet practical designs that blend creativity and function.
Hannah Smit is a visual artist and workshop facilitator whose practice explores the storytelling power of textiles, using fabric scraps, plastics, and other waste materials as tools for knowledge sharing and documentation, paying homage to its historical uses in African and African diasporic cultures. Hannah’s interest in textiles extends to a belief that the value of this medium transcends aesthetic and can facilitate practices necessary in the decolonial process. This is done through the amplification of textiles as an approach to community building and accessible means of archiving previously silenced histories. Through workshops and community-based projects, Hannah uses textile skills like weaving to facilitate conversations, fostering accessible learning and creative engagement.
Harvey Stillwell is a fashion creative whose work is deeply influenced by countercultural movements, their music, ideologies, and visual identities. With a background in Fashion Communication with Business from Brighton University, Harvey’s practice explores the intersections of subculture, vintage ephemera, and digital mixed media through creative direction and image production. Currently working as an Image Production Coordinator at Aries, Harvey is developing a specialty store and DIY print studio dedicated to rare vintage fashion, subcultural collectables, and hand-screenprinted clothing.
Lucy Kerr is a bio-material and spatial designer working in the museum and cultural sector. With a strong focus on regenerative design and material innovation, her practice explores the use of waste materials to create functional, crafted objects for interiors. Passionate about sustainable supply chains and circular design, Lucy founded Wet Blue to repurpose wet blue leather waste shavings into paper alternatives. She continues to develop design solutions that harness the power of craft and creativity to foster conversation, build connections through materials, and drive social and environmental change.
Piarvé Wetshi is a textile advocate, community organiser, and co-founder of Colèchi, where they explore the use of agricultural waste in textiles and run a knitting club. With a background in events and interior design, Piarvé has led initiatives such as Scrub Hub East London and The Sewcial Club, blending craftsmanship with community impact. Recognised as a Vogue Business Innovator 2024 and featured on Elle UK’s Green List, Piarvé is now focused on translating years of research and development into a sustainable collection.
The Sustainable Young Makers Programme will run until May 2025 and offers support, mentorship and access to resources and insights into the creative industry to help them grow their creative businesses responsibly.
Over the course of the programme, the Sustainable Young Makers participate in a six-week business development programme with Yodomo at the Textile Reuse Hub and gain 1-2-1 mentorship with leading fashion and textile industry leaders, as well as access to bespoke events tailored to their needs.
In April, the Sustainable Young Makers share their work with the wider industry networks as part of a showcase event held at The Gallery in The Trampery Fish Island.
Textile Reuse Hub Weaving Residency
In addition to the Sustainable Young Makers Programme, three local young weavers will participate in a three-month weaving residency at The Textile Reuse Hub.
During the residency, weavers Anisah Yaminah, Nowshin Prenon and Tanjina Begum will work with post-industry yarns at The Textile Reuse Hub and a loom acquired with funding from the Mayor of London. They will also run workshops for the public to engage local people with weaving, including guiding participants in creating a small piece of artwork using the design process of wrapping thread around a card or other materials such as wood to explore the interaction of colours and a workshop to learn more about the winding process to create a stripe design inspired by a visual reference or painting.
Sophie Rochester, CEO and Founder, Yodomo, said:
"We're delighted to be running the second cohort of the Sustainable Young Makers Programme, building on the success of the first. It's inspiring to see another group of talented, innovative, and thoughtful young creatives embracing circularity and sustainability in their own unique ways. Once again, it’s a privilege to support them as they refine their skills, experiment with new approaches, and shape the future of sustainable making and designing."
Patrick Scally, Executive Director, Hackney Wick and Fish Island Community Development Trust said:
“The level of creativity flowing through the programme this year is unreal. It shows that when it comes to tackling the wicked problem of creating with the planet in mind, using circular design principles, this generation has got next. We are thankful to all our partners for supporting this programme for another year. Without them we’d never be able to offer such a necessary and beautiful pathway for local young creators to realise their dreams.”
Bonnie Minshull, Head of London, SEGRO, said:
“At SEGRO, we are committed to being a force for societal and environmental good — a principle that sits at the heart of our purpose and strategy. We focus on areas where we can make a real and lasting impact in our local communities. We are proud to, once again, support the Sustainable Young Makers Programme as part of our Community Investment Plans in London, helping to nurture creative talent and drive forward the circular economy in East London. By investing in this initiative, we are equipping young makers with the skills, networks, and resources they need to develop sustainable businesses that benefit both the local community and the wider creative economy. It’s incredibly inspiring to see how this next generation is transforming waste into opportunity and embedding sustainability into their creative practices.”
Charles Armstrong, Founder and CEO, The Trampery, said:
"We're proud to support the next generation of innovators as they tackle the big sustainability challenges in fashion as part of the Sustainable Young Makers initiative at the Textile Reuse Hub. By offering a space for creativity, collaboration, and real-world solutions at The Trampery Fish Island Village, we're giving young minds the chance to lead the way in building a circular economy and helping the fashion industry move toward a more responsible and resource-efficient future."