Behind the Scenes with Central: Meet the Creative Team Supporting Fashion District Festival 2025

The partnership marks a unique collaboration between performance and fashion. Drawing on Central’s celebrated Stage Management and Creative Producing courses, the students will be embedded across the festival, working on everything from a live performance showcase, screens content, production logistics and front-of-house. Importantly, they’ll be guided by the principles of the Theatre Green Book – a sustainability framework adopted across theatre and live events – to help ensure this year’s festival runs not only seamlessly, but responsibly.

For the students, it’s a chance to test their training in real time. For the festival, it’s a welcome infusion of talent and energy.

For MA Creative Producing student Emma Aprile, the placement is a welcome opportunity to step outside the classroom and into the fast-paced world of real events. “This opportunity will allow me to test my knowledge and skills in a real-world, very diverse environment,” she explains. “Being involved in such a multifaceted festival is a great way to put theory into practice and grow as a creative producer.” She’s particularly looking forward to the Live Performance Showcase, adding, “I can’t wait to discover new designers and help bring their vision to life.

Fellow MA student Stephen Stamps sees the festival as a valuable way to explore creative production beyond traditional theatre. “This opportunity will help broaden my knowledge beyond the theatre world,” he says. “I recognise that brand activation is a vital part of immersive work, so gaining insights into how that plays out at a large-scale public festival is incredibly valuable.” With a background in international study, he’s also excited to feel more embedded in the London creative scene: “I’m genuinely excited about being part of something so community-oriented.”

For undergraduate students specialising in Stage Management, the opportunity offers a chance to scale up their craft and see how their skills translate to unconventional spaces.

“Much of my work at Central has focused on theatre and live performance,” says Bea Hart, “so I was very excited to work on a different kind of event. In a festival setup, the public is a lot closer to the workings of the event, so there’s a different skillset involved in how you present your work.” She likens it to inviting the audience on stage: “There needs to be slick integration between backstage and front of house. By working on the festival, I hope to develop both sets of skills to become a more well-rounded practitioner.”

Bea is also particularly drawn to the festival’s opening showcase in Spitalfields Market. “To be able to occupy such an iconic London space is such a unique opportunity. I think it will really set the tone for the week and celebrate the brilliant work coming out of the industry right now.” She’s also looking forward to facilitating workshops, especially those focused on circular fashion. “The sharing of knowledge is really valuable when it comes to achieving sustainable goals.”

For Ethan Burke, the festival is a chance to gain experience in a field that’s not often represented in his training. “This will give me valuable experience working on both a festival and a fashion event – two areas we don’t usually get to explore in practice,” he says. “It will really open my eyes to what’s possible.” Ethan is eager to apply his communication and management skills across multiple sites, while learning how large-scale events operate in real time. “I’ve mainly focused on getting one space perfect,” he adds. “This is a chance to understand how to work across many.”

Reflecting the students’ sentiments, Dr Kathrine Sandys, Principal Lecturer and Knowledge Exchange and Scholarship Leader in the Department of Producing, at Central, adds, “This is a great partnership opportunity where both organisations share the values of exploring and promoting sustainable practices. Working alongside Fashion District to support this event enables us to exchange knowledge around the running, organising and production of festivals and pop-ups whilst exploring where the appetite for applying our practices from the Theatre Green Book might emerge within the sector. I’m personally looking forward to the pioneering and innovative thinking we will discover through the week of presentations, workshops and events.”