Emma Willis to Style it Out in brand new sustainable fashion show for kids

Brand new Style It Out, presented by Emma Willis, will see nine creative fashion-loving kids from across the UK compete in a styling contest with sustainability at its core. The young designers will be hoping to win the chance to showcase their original creations at London Fashion Week.

Style it Out will air on CBBC and BBC iPlayer from Wednesday 10 January with three episodes premiering weekly, concluding with the Winner’s Story episode on Wednesday 7 February.

Filmed at Sky Blue Studios, a sustainable-first studio in Coventry, nine young creatives will use pre-loved clothes, vintage, second-hand and rescued materials, to upcycle and embellish their fabulous outfits. Celebrating their individuality and imagination they will be able to let their creativity fly.

Joining Emma Willis and the contestants, resident judges include stylists to the stars Ayishat Akanbi and Jorge Antonio, as well as weekly celebrity judges – Gok Wan, Katya Jones, Kyle Thomas, Tilly Lockey, The Lewis Sisters, Poppy O’Toole, Meesha Garbett, Donel, Talia Mar, Anaïs Gallagher, Shereen Cutkelvin and Molly Rainford.

Throughout the contest the young designers will challenge fashion ‘norms’ and stereotypes, create cool clothes for all shapes and sizes, and learn more about sustainability and recycling.

Each week the contestants will go head-to-head competing in challenges, from big scale styling tasks like creating red-carpet outfits, through to smaller, more intricate customisation challenges which viewers at home can enjoy. Contestants might find themselves designing for their teacher, their nan, or even a celebrity over the course of the series and weekly themes, such as Prom, Halloween or Animals will add to the testing of their artistic creativity.

Two contestants will win a spot in the final, and one wild card will join them, ensuring a hotbed of originality and resourcefulness as the final three compete to create the two most amazing sustainable and creative outfits to win the coveted place and opportunity to showcase their talents at London Fashion Week.

The Style It Out winner’s story will continue as they get to be part of a real-world fashion event and showcase their design. Viewers will get an exclusive, behind-the-scenes glimpse at the glamour, drama and excitement of a real London Fashion Week catwalk show, with Style It Out’s winner featured as it’s star designer.

Style it Out is a 11 x 30 mins series produced by Lion Television Scotland for CBBC. It was commissioned by Sarah Muller, Head of BBC Children’s Commissioning and Acquisitions, 7+ and the Senior Commissioning Editor for CBBC is Melissa Hardinge. The series producer is Sarah Clarke, and the executive producers are Lisa Hazlehurst and Fiona Piper from Lion Television.

Emma Willis says: “Style It Out has been a real passion project for me so I’m thrilled it’s finally here for kids to enjoy and hopefully be inspired by. The show is an amazing platform for the next generation of stylists and fashion designers to showcase their individuality and creative flair, all with sustainability in mind. It’s been an absolute pleasure to watch these talented young creatives flourish and show off their personal style.“

Patricia Hidalgo, Director of BBC Children’s and Education, says: “Style it Out is a brand new show for CBBC and BBC iPlayer, where the next generation of creative minds get the opportunity to transform pre-loved materials into runway masterpieces. It’s a true celebration of creativity, individuality and sustainability, coupled with the limitless potentials of our young designers, and we are thrilled to bring this vibrant showcase of talent to audiences across the UK! In a show where creativity knows no limits, we hope to inspire audiences to get involved, have fun and upcycle their own runway ready pieces.”

Lisa Hazlehurst, Head of Lion Television Scotland and Executive Producer, says “The team at Lion Television Scotland has had such fun producing this uplifting and inspirational series. We scoured the nation to find some of the best young designers and it’s been a privilege to work with such a talented bunch of young people. We were blown away by their imagination, creativity, talent and hard work to dream up amazing designs. They were all brilliant and we’re sure will inspire the CBBC audience to get creative.”

EG

Q&A with Emma Willis

What is your brand new show, Style it Out?

Style it Out is a fashion competition for any young person who likes to express themselves in a creative, fun and fashionable way. It’s a competition that sees kids taking on different challenges with different themes each week. At the end of it all we have three finalists, and whoever wins gets to show their collection that they’ve made during the show at London Fashion Week! 

And why this show? How did it come about?

This has been a passion project of mine that we’ve been working on for the past three years. I sat down with the production company in 2020 and they asked me what I wanted to do and I replied – I want to do a creative show with young people. So we kept talking and then this amazing fashion show, which centres around expressing yourself as an individual and sustainability in fashion is what came out of it. It’s been a long process, but it’s been absolutely worthwhile.

Why is sustainable fashion important?

Sustainable fashion should be important to everybody. It’s one of those things that we’re starting to hear about but we don’t really know enough about it. For me, I try to implement sustainability into my life by not over buying. I really try to only buy the things I actually need and pieces that have longevity. I’m also trying to make myself really aware of where I’m buying from, and I never throw anything away! My clothes always get either passed on to somebody or sent to charity. Some of my old clothes were actually used in some of the challenges in Style it Out – watch out for that.

In your experience, how switched on do you think children are about sustainability?

I think young kids seem much more switched on about sustainability and the environment. In my children’s schools they have eco warriors who represent their class, like a student council but specifically focused on how to help the environment. Even though I’m trying to learn more about sustainability myself, I’m watching how my kids are being taught and learning so much from them. If we can teach the importance of sustainability much earlier on, then hopefully moving forwards it’s going to have a much bigger and more positive impact. 

In your opinion, how important is fashion to young people?

I think having fun in fashion is great for young minds, it can really help shape who they are. Even if it’s not who they’re going to be in 10 years, it’s who they are now, and maybe in a year they’ll like something else but that’s part of life, isn’t it? We learn as we grow. That’s why I’m really hoping that Style it Out will give the kids who maybe feel like they’re different the confidence and courage to keep being themselves!

To sum it up, why should people watch Style it Out?

You don’t have to watch it just because you love fashion – though of course fashion lovers are very much welcome! There’s loads of other different things in there. There’s some amazing celebrity guests, there’s loads of information about sustainability, and there’s loads of fun to be had. Style it Out is a really exciting place to be so who knows what might come from it!