The Worth project: Innovation through Collaboration

By

Jean-Paul Leroy

Published
Nov 25, 2015

This Wednesday 25 November, the products and the stories behind the partnerships of the Worth project were exhibited in Paris. Launched at the end of 2013 upon the initiative and the support of the European Commission, the exhibit was presented in London on 10 November.

With the themes of ‘innovation’ and ‘collaboration’, the Centre for Fashion Enterprise at London College of Fashion along with Institut Francais de la Mode, Paris, engaged with over 80 companies from 13 countries across Europe to create innovative new products.

The first step was to constitute partnerships between designers and manufacturers from different European countries. 34 teams were thus created, bringing together a total 78 designers, manufacturers and technical specialists.

The operation was coordinated by the French Institute of Fashion (IFM), in partnership with the London College of Fashion, the Italian confederation of artisanry and SMEs, and Euratex, the European Apparel and Textile Confederation.
 
Each of the partnerships resulted in prototypes of clothing, fabrics, accessories, eyewear, furniture or jewellery.
 
"The Worth project makes it possible to experiment with an efficient approach to linking companies, talents and technologies; the participants are all aware that they have experienced a precious moment and one that is fruitful for the future, and to have in their own way contributed to a Europe of creativity," pointed out Dominique Jacomet, General Director of the IFM.
 
Funded by the European Commission to develop competitiveness in small and medium creative businesses, the Worth project specialises in Cross Border designer and manufacturer collaborations, aiming to innovate new fashion and lifestyle products in order to maximise assets derived from the resource and skills base of Europe.

The Worth project is supported by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise & Industry and financed under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) which aims to encourage the competitiveness of European Enterprises.

The name of the Worth project is a tribute to Britain's Charles Frederick Worth, who created the first Couture House in 1858 in Paris and in association with Swede Otto Bobergh.