The International Circular Fashion Week Conference (16–17 March, Leeds Beckett University) invites artists, designers, makers, craftspeople, and cultural practitioners to take part as exhibitors and stallholders in a unique global platform celebrating folklore, heritage, culture, and tradition through circular fashion.

This opportunity brings together contemporary creativity and ancestral knowledge, showcasing how traditional crafts, hand techniques, and cultural narratives can be reimagined through reuse, repair, upcycling, and sustainable making.

Participants will exhibit work that honours heritage while shaping the future of circular fashion within an international, interdisciplinary setting.

International Circular Fashion Week Conference (ICFWC) is a two-day international event taking place on 16–17 March at Leeds Beckett University (The Knowledge Exchange, Leeds, UK).

The event brings together designers, artists, makers, academics, cultural practitioners, students, community organisations, and sustainability leaders to explore how heritage, folklore, traditional crafts, and cultural identity can be preserved, reinterpreted, and revitalised through circular fashion practices.

This open call invites stallholders and exhibitors working in circular, upcycled, repaired, heritage-led, and culturally rooted practices to showcase and, where appropriate, sell their work as part of the conference exhibition and marketplace.

What this opportunity offers

Participants will:

• Exhibit their work at an international cultural fashion event hosted in partnership with Leeds Beckett University, attracting designers, students, researchers, industry professionals, press, and the public
• Be part of a curated programme focused on tradition, folklore, handicraft, and circularity, including panels, performances, workshops, and exhibitions
• Gain professional visibility through event photography, documentation, and promotion across Circular Fashion Incubator CIC networks, partner organisations, and press outreach
• Be considered for media coverage linked to sustainability, heritage, education, and cultural innovation
• Contribute to a growing international network of circular and heritage-led practitioners
• Support ethical and community-focused outcomes, including charitable and educational initiatives connected to the event
• Attendance across the two days is expected to include hundreds of participants, with a mix of local, national, and international audiences, including students, academics, industry professionals, community groups, and invited guests.

Who should apply

We are inviting artists, designers and makers from all over the world whose work is rooted in folklore, cultural heritage and traditional craft to exhibit at the International Circular Fashion Week Conference 2026 in Leeds, UK.

We welcome applications from:

• Fashion designers and makers working with upcycling, reuse, repair, and remanufacture
• Textile artists and craftspeople using traditional techniques such as weaving, embroidery, dyeing, knitting, crochet, felting, spinning, or hand-loom processes
• Practitioners exploring folklore, heritage, cultural identity, and ancestral knowledge through contemporary making
• Ethical brands, studios, and social enterprises aligned with circular economy values
• Artists whose work bridges tradition and innovation
• Both emerging and established practitioners are encouraged to apply.

Artistic and professional development

This opportunity supports artistic development by:

• Providing experience of exhibiting within a curated, international conference setting
• Encouraging dialogue between artists, academics, and industry
• Strengthening professional profiles through documented exhibitions and public engagement
• Creating opportunities for future collaborations, commissions, and invitations

Sales, materials, and costs

• Stallholders may sell work directly to the public, where appropriate
• Participants are responsible for sourcing their own materials and covering production costs
• No fee to apply
  £40 for 1 day / £75 for 2 days for selected stallholders
  Clarified that no commission is taken on sales and artists retain 100% of their income

About the organisers

International Circular Fashion Week Conference is produced by Circular Fashion Incubator CIC (Leeds, UK), a not-for-profit organisation founded to support circular fashion, heritage craft, education, and community-led sustainability. 

The organisation works internationally with designers, universities, cultural partners, and grassroots initiatives to create platforms that connect tradition, creativity, and future-focused circular systems.