DAMEchangers Innovation Camp: Our Next Generation
At DAME we’re all about paying things forward so that the next generation can stand on our shoulders and achieve their dreams, and more.
In this spirit, DAME has partnered with Innovate UK and Universify to host the DAMEchangers Innovation Camp, a five-day, all-expenses paid camp in late August to inspire teenage girls with innovative design and kickstart their change-making journeys.
DAME were awarded the Women in Innovation award by the UK government innovation body, Innovate UK, which will fund this mini incubator for the next generation.
Twenty 16-17 year-old girls from across the UK have already applied and been selected. They will meet the DAME team at Somerville College, Oxford University for a blend of structured sessions centring around product innovation, marketing and packaging.
There will also be a variety of speakers covering topics ranging from sustainability, the circular economy, female entrepreneurship and much more.
Let the innovation begin!
Our DAMEchangers Bootcamp Speakers
Eshita Kabra-Davies
Emilia Wickstead
Jenny Banks
Mika Simmons
Eshita Kabra-Davies
Eshita is the Founder and CEO of the award-winning app By Rotation, the social fashion rental platform. Inspired by a love for fashion that doesn’t weigh on her conscience and with an approach grounded in practicality over indulgence, Eshita founded By Rotation as a side hustle in April 2019.
An investment professional with over 6 years of experience, she combines her commercial experience with her passions for fashion and graphic design. A Forbes 30 under 30 Technology, Eshita is especially focused on creating a conscious and inclusive global community that democratises fashion.
Emilia Wickstead
Established in 2008, the luxury womenswear label Emilia Wickstead has become known in the industry as the epitome of modern femininity.
Born in New Zealand, Emilia spent her formative years in Milan before moving to London to study Design and Marketing at Central Saint Martin’s, graduating with Honours in 2007.
After her studies, Emilia worked with American Vogue and at fashion houses including Giorgio Armani and Narciso Rodriguez before returning to London to establish her eponymous label, opening her first store in Belgravia in 2009.
Known for her fluent use of colour and exacting craftsmanship, Emilia Wickstead’s designs effortlessly combine tradition and the romance of bygone eras with refined silhouettes and contemporary twists to create timeless, elegant clothing with a clear point of distinction.
Originally founding her business with a unique made-to-measure model, Emilia’s collections now comprise seasonal ready-to-wear, homeware and bridalwear, as well as bespoke and made-to-order services operated from her West London atelier. Her designs have been showcased at London Fashion Week since 2011.
Emilia Wickstead collections are held by some of the most prestigious retailers in the world, including Net-A-Porter, Harrods, MATCHESFASHION, Printemps and MyTheresa. The brand’s flagship store, designed by architect Fran Hickman, opened on London’s Sloane Street in 2014.
Jenny Banks
has been exploring new materials and innovative technologies since 2011, underpinned by a drive to enable a sustainable and regenerative future. From fast-fashion to wetsuits to wind turbine blades, Jenny’s experience of designing for sustainability is highly varied.
In 2017, Jenny became the world’s first wetsuit recycler with cold-water surf brand Finisterre and the University of Exeter, as part of their #wetsuitsfromwetsuits programme – introducing closed-loop manufacturing to the wetsuit industry.
She’s now a Materials Research Engineer at the National Composites Centre (UK) where she’s involved in their leading Sustainable Composites Partnership programme, currently assessing alternative materials for wind turbine blades and developing re-processing technologies for end-of-life composites.
Mika Simmons
Mika Simmons is an award-winning filmmaker and actress, founder of The Lady Garden Foundation and host of The Happy Vagina Podcast. The Lady Garden Foundation has raised over £1,000,000 for gynaecoligical research and awareness.
To keep up to date with the DAMEchangers program, follow DAME Instagram and TikTok
