Founded by fashion design students at Central Saint Martins, 1 Granary aims to question and reshape the fashion system at large. Centered around the work of young, independent talent – a demographic at risk of being simultaneously fetishized and exploited by the industry – 1 Granary seeks to guide newcomers through established structures, and invite them to create new ones. Though education remains at the heart of the platform (informing students, graduates and those who don’t have access to traditional forms of education), 1 Granary functions independently of any official institute or university.
Since its launch as a website in 2012, 1 Granary has expanded with an annual print magazine spanning 650 pages of content (the first issue in 2013 was sponsored by Comme des Garçons), developed a portfolio of media partnerships to promote talent worldwide, and initiated an events program aimed to sustainably help develop the careers of emerging designers (including a collaboration with Sarabande: The Lee Alexander McQueen Foundation).
The London-based showroom representing 60+ designers each year (founded in 2016), further pushes 1 Granary’s vision as a creative community. As an answer to the increasing commodification of creative talent, 1 Granary launched VOID in 2017, a new global initiative designed to build a bridge between the emerging and the established
I have decided to base my project on 1 Granary. I have limited options of what subjects I can shoot from home, but found this to be young and fun. Being in lockdown with my two teenage sisters, I thought I would take this as an opportunity to experiment with the youth culture in fashion and found this magazine to also display these themes. I like the concept of documenting fashion in a trendy and alternative way instead of a typical studio portrait.
A lot of the images from the magazine have been shot with flash. In the project I have to shoot with various lighting sources, with flash being one of them, the magazine shows a successful approach to this. All of the images are bright, colourful and fresh, all qualitites I would also like to produce.
I also have to experiment with backgrounds, which 1 Granary often does, making alternative and interesting shots, some inside in a studio enviroment and others outside in strong sunlight.
Jodie Tovey PJD blog 