FACE: Fashion Academics Creating Equality

What FACE: Fashion Academics Creating Equality does

FACE: Fashion Academics Creating Equality is a UK-based non-profit advocacy organization founded in 2020 and headquartered in London. The organization operates as a mixed academic group lobbying for race equality in fashion education, serving Black, Brown and minoritised fashion students, fashion academics and educators, and fashion education institutions across the UK and internationally. Its core programs include the FACE Excellence Prize (an annual award for Black and minoritised final year students on BA fashion-related courses, in partnership with Graduate Fashion Foundation), the FACE Summit series (held with Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art), the FACE Race Handbook, the See My FACE Survey, the FACE Films series (including the BERA 2024 award-winning Mind the Gap), and the Joe Casely-Hayford Digital Library.

FACE's business model is member-supported through a community of Members, Associates, and an External Advisory Panel, with no publicly disclosed revenue or pricing. Growth and reach are driven by community-led engagement and event-driven activities, including educational summits, film screenings, exhibitions (notably with the Horniman Museum), and panel talks. The organization has built a broad network of institutional partnerships spanning 38+ UK design institutions and key cultural bodies, and lobbies for systemic change through policy advocacy (e.g., with CHEAD on the National Student Survey). The organization is operations-led with 6 employees, co-founded by Sharon Lloyd, Andrew Ibi, and Pascal Matthias, and is supported by FACE members and trustees embedded across UK higher education institutions.

Name

FACE: Fashion Academics Creating Equality

Legal name

FACE: Fashion Academics Creating Equality

Website

https://weareface.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

FACE is a UK-based non-profit advocacy organization founded in 2020 that lobbies for race equality in fashion education. It serves Black, Brown and minoritised fashion students, academics, and institutions through the FACE Excellence Prize, annual summits, films, and policy advocacy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership: FACE operates a membership program (Members and Associates) that provides access to the community network, resources, notice boards, and professional development opportunities. Revenue model details are not publicly disclosed.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

FACE is a non-profit academic advocacy organization lobbying for race equality in fashion education. It delivers a portfolio of programs including the FACE Excellence Prize (annual student award), annual FACE Summits, documentary films (Mind the Gap, Re:Tension), the FACE Race Handbook, the See My FACE Survey, the Joe Casely-Hayford Digital Library, and community panel talks and exhibitions. Activities serve Black and minoritised fashion students, fashion academics, and education institutions across the UK and internationally.

Product overview

FACE (Fashion Academics Creating Equality) is an advocacy organization comprising a mixed academic group lobbying for race equality in fashion education. Rather than a unified software product, FACE offers a portfolio of programs and resources including the FACE Excellence Prize (an annual award for Black and minoritised fashion students), FACE Summits (annual conferences), FACE Films (documentary projects on race bias in education), the Joe Casely-Hayford Digital Library, the See My FACE Survey research tool, and various community programs including panel talks and exhibitions such as the FACE X Horniman partnership. These offerings work together to amplify Black and minoritised creativity and drive systemic change in fashion education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• FACE Excellence Prize Annual prize celebrating Black and minoritised excellence in fashion creativity, open to final year students on BA fashion-related courses (including journalism, marketing, photography, communication, fashion design, textile design, hair and make-up design, styling, creative direction) in the UK and internationally.
• FACE Summit Annual summit featuring panels, networking, and knowledge sharing on race equality in fashion education, delivered in partnership with leading institutions such as Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art.
• FACE Race Handbook Educational resource addressing race equality issues in academic settings, distributed to fashion education institutions.
• See My FACE Survey Student-initiated survey tool for gathering data on experiences of race equality in education.
• FACE Films Film projects exploring race bias in higher education, including 'Mind the Gap' (2025) and 'Re:Tension' (2020), co-created with students and academic institutions and available for university licensing.
• Joe Casely-Hayford Digital Library Digital archive dedicated to the work and legacy of fashion designer Joe Casely-Hayford.
• FACE x Horniman Partnership Collaborative exhibition program with the Horniman Museum exploring hair stories and personal narratives from Black, Brown, and Asian perspectives.
• FACE Panel Talks Regular community talks featuring guest speakers discussing topics related to race, fashion, culture and equality.

Quantifiable outcome

• In 2025, Black students are 21.6% less likely to achieve a first or upper second-class degree compared to white counterparts; for other minoritised students the gap is 14.1%
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• London Metropolitan UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 October 2025FACE collaborated with London Metropolitan University's Centre for Equity and Inclusion (CEI) to screen Ricardo Barker's Mind the Gap film. Sharon Lloyd, FACE co-founder and Deputy Director of CEI at London Met, organized the event, which sparked reflection and dialogue on racial inequality in higher education.
• Horniman MuseumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 September 2025FACE partnered with the Horniman Museum on the Hair: Untold Stories exhibition and competition, showcasing personal narratives attached to hair from Black, Brown and Asian perspectives. The exhibition critiqued mainstream views on hair and colonial legacies while promoting identity empowerment through natural hair. FACE was selected by GLAD Symposium to curate the exhibition and chair a panel discussion at Nottingham Trent University.
• Central Saint MartinsflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 July 2025FACE Summit 1.5 took place in partnership with Central Saint Martins, featuring a day of panels, networking, and knowledge exchange on race equality in fashion education. FACE Summit 2022 was held at Central Saint Martins with 67 speakers, 24 panels, 450 in-person and 1000+ online attendees from 42 institutions.
• Royal College of Art (RCA)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2024FACE partnered with the Royal College of Art for the FACE X RCA Summit (November 2024), featuring sessions on podiatry as pedagogy, Black contribution to fashion, and creative methodologies for race equality in higher education.
• Caramel RockminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2023Caramel Rock, a fashion brand, supported FACE by offering pop-up shop opportunities for Black and Brown designers, announced through FACE's Instagram community.
• GLAD SymposiumminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022GLAD Symposium selected FACE to curate the FACE X Horniman: Hair Untold Stories exhibition and chair a panel discussion at Nottingham Trent University in September 2025, with a focus on Inclusive Practices and Lived Experiences.
• Graduate Fashion Foundation (GFF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021FACE members who are trustees of the Graduate Fashion Foundation (Benita Odogwu-Atkinson, Gavin Douglas, Beatrice Newman) co-created the Black Excellence Prize (now FACE Excellence Prize) with GFF, the first prize in 30 years where GFF invited non-member institutions to exhibit. This partnership provides a major platform for Black and minoritised fashion students.
• British Beauty CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021FACE partnered with the British Beauty Council to host the Black Beauty Barriers community talk, investigating Black beauty in a white-centric culture. FACE co-founder Sharon D Lloyd served as BBCo ambassador for diversity in education. The event engaged beauty students and professionals on changes needed in the hair and beauty industry.
• Kingston School of ArtcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Kingston School of Art, through FACE member Michelle Muirhead, hosted the Under-Represented student project and has been a key institutional partner for FACE Excellence Prize winners (Joy Julius 2021, Meerim Mamatova 2022). The institution supports FACE's student-facing initiatives.
• V&A MuseumminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2021The V&A Museum provided sponsorship support for the CIAD Tartan Project exhibition, which underwent a UK-wide tour. CIAD (Costume Institute of the African Diaspora), featured in a FACE community talk, focuses on showcasing sartorial expressions of the African Diaspora.
• Christopher KaneminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2021FACE collaborated with designer Christopher Kane on the PLATFORM initiative, part of Kane's pledge to support young Black and Brown talent. FACE announced the collaboration on Instagram to promote opportunities for minoritised creatives.
• Council for Higher Education in Art and Design (CHEAD)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021FACE partnered with CHEAD to lobby the National Student Survey (NSS) to include questions on race and culture as part of the 27-point student evaluation questionnaire, proposing additions such as 'I felt able to study a diverse, unbiased and inclusive curriculum' and 'I was taught by a diverse, unbiased and inclusive teaching body'.
• Graduate Fashion ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021The Graduate Fashion Forum (GFF) partnered with FACE on the FACE Excellence Prize, which was delivered at Graduate Fashion Week and open to all Black, Brown and minoritised final year students on any BA fashion-related course in the UK and internationally.
• Leeds Trinity UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Ricardo Barker, Associate Professor in Professional Practice at Leeds Trinity University, co-created the Mind the Gap film with students and staff at the university. Leeds Trinity won the 2021 Whatuni Diversity and Inclusion Award partly through Barker's Re:Tension work. FACE licenses the Mind the Gap film to other institutions through Leeds Trinity.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Creative Access: UK charity that supports under-represented talent into creative industries through mentoring, training, and employer engagement. Operates in the same diversity-and-creative-industries space as FACE and addresses overlapping awarding/progression gaps in UK creative education and careers.
• The Black Curriculum: UK social enterprise advocating for Black history to be embedded in the national curriculum and broader education system. Directly comparable as a race-equality advocacy organization working within UK education, with shared toolset of resources, campaigns, and institutional engagement.
• London College of Fashion (University of the Arts London): UK fashion education institution and incubator of fashion-related research, enterprise, and equity initiatives. Comparable as an institutional actor in the same fashion-education ecosystem FACE is trying to reform, and a likely institutional partner for FACE programs.
• Council for Higher Education in Art and Design (CHEAD): UK subject association for higher-education art and design institutions. FACE has an existing partnership with CHEAD to lobby on National Student Survey race-and-culture questions, making it both a peer and a partner in the same UK fashion-education policy space.
• Runnymede Trust: UK independent race-equality think tank producing research and policy recommendations on racial inequality. Comparable to FACE as a race-equality research and advocacy body, though operating at a broader policy level rather than in a specific sector.

Others

• Color of Change: US-based racial-justice organization that runs advocacy campaigns targeting corporate and institutional behavior. Comparable as a large-scale race-equality advocacy organization using campaigns and institutional engagement, though focused on corporate accountability rather than education.
• Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media: US non-profit researching and advocating for gender equality in entertainment and media. Comparable as a research-and-advocacy organization addressing systemic bias in a creative sector, though with a different protected characteristic and geographic focus.

Broad incumbents

• Arts Council England: National development agency for arts, museums, and creative industries in England, distributing public funding and shaping equity policy. Comparable as a broader incumbent that funds and sets policy for the same creative-sector ecosystem FACE engages with through partnerships and programming.
• British Fashion Council (BFC): Industry body that represents and supports the British fashion industry and runs events such as London Fashion Week and BFC Foundation initiatives. FACE operates within the same fashion sector and BFC is a downstream platform where FACE prize winners gain visibility, making it a relevant broad incumbent partner.

Emerging players

• Women in Film & Television International: UK-based membership organization supporting gender equity across the screen industries. Comparable as a community-led creative-industry equity organization running events, advocacy, and member programs; intersects with FACE's DEI-in-creative-education mission.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/_weareface
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/face-fashion-academics-creating-equality

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FACE: Fashion Academics Creating Equality