Farfetch celebrates Flipside training programme with non-profit A New Direction

Luxury online fashion retail platform Farfetch and non-profit organisation A New Direction are celebrating the success of their Flipside product design training programme.

Partnering with Farfetch, the Flipside programme offers training for talented, unemployed or underemployed young people aged 18-24, who are traditionally underrepresented in the digital industry.

Over three months, starting September 2021, eight trainees had access to three months of training designed by agency Made by Many. Through active classroom learning and practical industry experience, trainees were able to develop industry skills on topics including customer research, prototyping, visualisation, concept mapping and testing and validation.

Trainees were also able to put their learning into practice as they responded to a live brief on sustainability. As the training phase concluded, Flipside trainees pitched their digital product design prototypes at a showcase event, receiving industry feedback from a panel of experts from participating agencies and partners.

Anita Grummels, Senior Principal Product Manager at Farfetch, said: "It was so inspiring to work with Flipside and see the incredible creativity and talent that went into answering the brief. It's a fantastic programme and we were very honoured to be involved."

Oliver Benjamin, Director of Employment & Skills at A New Direction, added: "Flipside really leads the way in addressing the skills gap in the digital industry and the wider diversity crisis that is an unfortunate reality in this sector. We are giving world-class training and first-rate opportunities to those who are under-represented. At scale, this has the potential to really change industry."