This is being partly delivered by Paul Smith’s Foundation along with the Mayor of London and Projekt. It will “provide London fashion designers with free space in the heart of the City and access to mentoring from industry leaders”.It’s also supported by the City of London Corporation.

So what will the new studios offer? They’ll provide free space to fashion designers with those creatives having access to 5,000 sq ft of temporary workspace.Over the next three years, three cohorts of six designers will receive a free 400 sq ft studio space for 12 months each, as well as mentoring from industry leaders and business planning training. Residents will also have access to wider facilities including a media suite, events spaces and a photography studio.The Mayor of London and Projekt have provided the main funding, each investing £175,000 to cover the rent and fit-out of the spaces.And Paul Smith’s Foundation has designed the mentoring programme, matching designers with key professionals. It’s put together workshops, group seminars and one-to-one tutoring, with more than 40 hours of business skills teaching in legal, finance, production and wholesaling, content creation, styling, communications, social media and more.British GQ is also supporting the programme by providing residents with networking opportunities and mentoring on brand building and digital growth.The new creative hub is located above the Meat Market in Smithfield’s Northwest Quadrant. It has been designed by Projekt while plans are considered for the future of the East and West Market buildings.The Mayor of London has committed to a number of creative support projects with groups such as the British Fashion Council, Film London, London Design Festival and London Games Festival, and said such support of these industries “has helped them secure more than £2.8 billion in sales, trade and investment since 2019”. Applications are now open for the first cohort. Designers will be pre-selected by a panel of industry experts and mentors, and the final six will be chosen by a panel including Paul Smith.  Mentors in the programmes include: Adam Andrascik, co-founder and CEO of Provineer and Course Leader of MA Fashion: Digital Futures at Ravensbourne University London; Charlie Casely-Hayford, Director Casely-Hayford; Felicity Kay, Stylist & Style Consultant; Henry Holland, Founder of Henry Holland Studio ; Phoebe Briggs, Brand Director Harris Reed; and Laura Weir, Executive Creative Director, Selfridges, among others.Paul Smith said: “I set up Paul Smith’s Foundation to bring about opportunities and give helpful advice to creative people. The Fashion Residency at Studio Smithfield is a mentoring and support programme for early career fashion designers, conceived specifically to build their skills in topics ranging from legal and finance, to production, merchandising and publicity. I’m excited to be working with a generous team of industry experts and partners to build solid businesses for the long term and celebrate London’s brilliant and diverse creative talent.”