MADE BY TOTTENHAM

CREATIVE, COLLABORATIVE AND UNAFRAID

IMAGE CREATION FOR CREATIVE DIRECTORY LAUNCH LAUNCHED IN 3RD QUARTER OF 2020

THE MISSION: To raise the profile of creative freelancers and businesses both within and beyond the local area whilst establishing new connections locally and across the wider London creative community. This will in turn: showcase and discover discover talent / Facilitate direct employment, paid opportunities and commissions, whether from Haringey based companies, and also other Councils within the broader creative sector / Inspire a new generation of creatives through increased awareness of – and access to – the vast array of creative sectors and careers available.

Tottenham is amongst the most creative areas of London, with almost 1 in 5 residents working in the creative industries; London’s fastest growing sector prior to the pandemic. Now more than ever, it is vital to support and celebrate our local creative economy.

CASE STUDY: JOSE HENDO

FOUNDER OF JOSEHENDO.COM “BARK TO THE ROOTS”

José Hendo is a Ugandan-born British eco-sustainable designer who takes a fresh approach to fashion design, challenging the throwaway culture. José Hendo has won multiple awards. She promotes the use of organic, eco- textiles and recycled materials to create unique often avant-garde garments and accessories for both women and men. She supports ethical values and the environment.

Designing clothes now requires an awareness of the impact of the fashion industry on the environment. In her desire to get away from fast fashion, ‘sustainable by design’ is her mantra, from material choices to clever cutting and simplified production processes. “The clothes we wear are a direct expression of our personalities, beliefs and lifestyles. Therefore the history of a garment is just as important as its future.”

She chooses to work extensively with barkcloth. Barkcloth making is a centuries-old technique. It is considered the oldest cloth made by man and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Material in 2005. As the tree regenerates another bark to be harvested every year for up to sixty years, this organic cloth that predates the weaving era is the best ambassador for sustainability.

In 2014 José Hendo launched an initiative called BARK TO THE ROOTS (B2TR). She is now connected to the Bukomansimbi Organic Tree Farmers Association (BOTFA) in Uganda who have preserved this heritage of making cloth.

Collections produced by the label are inspired by a mixture of José’s African heritage and British influence. Barkcloth features in all collections, used innovatively alongside other organic fabrics such as organic cotton, silk, hemp, bamboo, end-of-line fabrics such as linen, wool or denim and upcycling.
Garments are produced at the design studio, ‘José Original Ltd’, situated in London

CASE STUDY: FRANKLIN BOATENG

FOUNDER OF: THE KING OF TRAINERS

Franklin Boateng is a well-known social media expert and consultant, social influencer, serial entrepreneur, twitter teacher and twogger (twitter blogger).

A native of Tottenham, North London, born to Ghanaian parents, Franklin is one of many young and ambitious black men who are pushing the frontiers of social entrepreneurship in the post-millennial era. In 2010, he built the now defunct social networking site – www.fabsnetwork.com. At the time, it was one of the first open blog social networks, gaining 5 000 members in one year and regularly getting over 1 000 000 monthly hits. This initial success led to several companies and businesses reaching out to him for direction on gaining a social media following, kickstarting his career as a social media maestro.

As a social influencer, he helped shape the way that mainstream media covered the Tottenham riots, a watershed moment in modern British history back in 2011. He created the hashtag ‘#TottenhamRiots’ and his tweets were picked up by various media outlets, leading to an interview with the BBC. Franklin is now often called on to live tweet/twog at events; as a twogger, he has worked with a SKY TV channel and several awards shows. Twogging even led to a feature on the Marvel Instagram page during #BlackPanther fever, after being spotted by Disney and AfroPunk wearing Ghanaian royal regalia at the screening of ‘We Are Parable’

Today, Franklin is the biggest sneaker (trainers) blogger in the UK, writing on all things trainers at www.kingdomoftrainers.com. His was one of the first brands to get over

100K followers on Instagram as @kingoftrainers (currently at 125K followers). In 2014, he founded ‘The Drop of the Year Awards’, the first awards platform for trainers, with live shows held in 2017 and 2018. Taking things a step further, he launched www.footwearjobs.co.uk, a site for those who wish to pursue a career in the footwear industry. He has also consulted on the UK’s first feature-length documentary on trainer culture, ‘Sole Seekers’, which will premiere in London in June 2018.

Franklin has delivered a TEDx talk, ‘A Social Media Mind’. He regularly lectures on social media to apprentices, and as a father, is a firm believer in educating the young on using these communication platforms responsibly. He also curates and consults on cultural experiences.