A Year in Review
A look back on 2025 for MM
A year in review -
What a year it’s been for this small but mighty organisation! A year of firsts and many wins where we didn’t just grow, we expanded.
We formed powerful new partnerships with brands and organisations who share our mission. We reached higher, showed up and showed out.
A year where this community and team proved throughout what’s possible when creativity, support and opportunity are not just headlines but in the soul of everything we do.
At the very start of the year we launched a round with the French luxury Maison Rabanne and began a multi-year partnership dedicated to supporting our goals and making meaningful change.
We turned 5! - 5 years ago Laura Edwards, founded MM in the wake of major systemic changes and we’re still pushing, questioning, and evolving what change looks like today, alongside the brands, creatives and industry leaders who believe in the same things we do
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And in the spirit of all of this, this Summer marked our first ever public Community Day! Something we have wanted to do for ages. We are always trying to grow our impact and reach as many people as we can and this was a beautiful way to do it. It was an unforgettable birthday celebration of connection and purpose. We held great panels and workshops, and a wonderfully chaotic speed mentoring session which sparked countless connections and bursts of joy. A huge thank you to all the Mentors, from across the globe, who participated including -
Olivia Singer, Paloma Elsesser, Alice Casely-Hayford, Tess Ayano, MC Barnes, Joe Howard, Tess Ayano, Martha Rzeppa, Karen Long, Guy Bolongaro, Sanaz Dizaj Parham and Shanu Walpita.
who courageously stepped into a format few have tried before! Delivering powerful insights and guidance in lightning fast slots and dropping gems that left a lasting impact in a room buzzing with energy.
This year we also opened our workshops and industry events access to our wider and rapidly growing community for the first time, bringing in hundreds of new faces and voices to join the table.
We launched our very first Mentors-as-Mentees round! A move that proved hugely popular, drawing in a surge of new applications and excitement and creating a beautiful circular moment as our mentees get ready to give our new cohort the benefit of their knowledge.
And we continued to deliver multiple rounds of mentoring with some of the most brilliant minds in the arts, helping to shape the careers of hundreds who receive MM’s career long support with all of the care, advice, job opportunities, resources and access to amazing events and workshops we provide.
And somehow, amongst all this activity, we still managed to make it to NYFW, LFW and PFW. We were everywhere, and we loved every moment of it.
We watched our Mentees shine as they literally stepped onto global stages, celebrating like Joshua Ewusie who made his eponymous label Ewusie’s debut at LFW.
We travelled to Paris, bringing our Rabanne Round Mentees together in person to meet their Mentors face-to-face and experience the epic Rabanne show for themselves. These were the kinds of experiences and alliances we have dreamed of creating and now they’re our reality.
We held Mentee meets ups in London, Paris, New York and for the first time in Berlin and Lagos!
Mentors and Mentees connected between Mumbai and Shanghai, Jakarta and Paris, Haifa to New York and Paris and Croydon!
As always, friendships and collaborations stretched across the globe whilst also thriving locally, with the MM team and our Mentees coming together to support several Mentees’ launches.
We also launched our first piece of MM merch - a T-shirt that’s been popping up across our feeds and even at Fashion Week, thanks to your support and your collective love for a perfectly weighted, perfectly colour clashed tee. Get your hands on this iconic piece here
Amongst many fantastic events, we were invited to VOGUE: Inventing the Runway at Lightroom - a beautiful interactive fashion experience with a series of talks that the Mentees loved. We also went to several screenings courtesy of Dazed x Mubi including
And at long last we re-launched our website - a dynamic, colourful space that truly represents us and shows you exactly what we do.
Our instagram reached millions, we launched on TikTok and MM’s Substack entered the chat! Where we continue to grow our subscribers and work on offering you the best in MM BTS, fun and informative content from around the world + subscriber only benefits.
For Black History Month we took the time to reflect. We’re in the business of listening to our Mentees all year round but we thought one of the most meaningful things we could do at this time of year is make space for our Mentees, as well as our wider community of Instagram and Substack subscribers, to speak openly about race, work, and wellbeing. So, we held our first workshop in collaboration with Black Minds Matter UK. An organisation we could not be prouder to work alongside. The impact was immediate and profound, and watching people connect and be seen in real time was one of the most moving moments of our year.
And then we dialled up the glamour, with an amazing view of the action at The Fashion Awards, where we had the joy of watching Mentors like Craig Green and long-time supporters like Wales Bonner and Simone Rocha spotlighted as 2025’s nominees.
And in the middle of all this, we focused on fundraising, because the drive for funds is absolutely vital for us to continue our work. We kicked off our first GoFundMe campaign and this Christmas’ insanely good raffle where you and your friends and family can purchase entries to win products by iconic brands such as Mulberry, Wales Bonner, Simone Rocha, Supreme, Casablanca, Puig and creative sessions and mentorship experiences such as portfolio review and feedback session with leading creative agency Art Partner. Enter for your chance to win here
This year for MM has been about accelerating momentum and impact.
In the year ahead, expect:
More uplift.
More support.
More resources.
More guidance.
More joy.
And more space, visibility and opportunity for talented creatives across the world to be seen, heard and supported in building the creative lives they deserve.
Thank you for being part of this extraordinary time and for any way you have supported or donated to a more inclusive future in the creative industries.
And here’s to everything still to come 💜
