“Made with Care”, a new lifestyle brand by creators who grew up in the care system, launches at John Lewis

Last week, the John Lewis Partnership unveiled “Made With Care”, the first design for a new lifestyle brand curated by designers and creators who have grown up in the care system

A year since the Partnership used its biggest platform – the annual Christmas advert – to help make children in care a national talking point, the Made With Care brand marks the start of a new design-focused collaboration created by people who have experienced the care system. 

The first product is designed by Michael Archibald, an 18-year-old aspiring artist from Glasgow who has experienced care. Michael has crafted an inspiring piece of art to feature on a fashionable tote bag. Michael applied to take part in Made with Care through Who Cares? Scotland, the Partnership’s charity partner. He has worked with the John Lewis in-house design team and creative partners Saatchi & Saatchi to create his unique design.

Michael Archibald, the first collaborator for Made With Care, said:

“Creative industries are such a competitive field, and being able to work with such big companies makes me feel like I can go places.

“I want more Care Experienced People to feel this way. I’m so excited by the potential of Made With Care to give more people like me a platform to be creative and raise more awareness at the same time. 

“The stars on the bag represent the brilliance of Care Experienced People, and the surrounding clouds depict the love, care and respect these individuals need.”

Sharon White, John Lewis Partnership Chairman, said:

“Made With Care will give a creative platform for brilliantly talented Care Experienced People to shine. Not only will each design reflect a poignant and unique story, it will also allow customers to purchase beautiful products with meaning behind them.”

Queralt Ferrer, John Lewis Director of Design for Fashion, said:

“We set out to design a tote bag, but beyond that, our brief to Michael was very open. We can see he has a keen eye for aesthetics and the ability to create authentic and captivating designs. His eye-catching final design effectively conveys the message of Made With Care – the stars symbolise the individuals growing up in care, surrounded by the program’s support.”

Franki Goodwin, Chief Creative Officer from Saatchi & Saatchi, said:

“From the very beginning, the concept of Made With Care was underpinned by a smile, and we’re incredibly happy and proud that some of our first work for the UK’s most important retailer is the launch of an entirely new product line designed to harness the potential and talent of Care Experienced People. This is so much more than advertising; it’s a commitment to the 100,000s of people who have experienced the UK Care Experience system and the start of an incredible creative partnership.”

Made With Care is a collaboration between artistic Care, Experienced young people and the John Lewis Partnership fashion teams to design stylish and beautiful products, with aspirations for this to be a full range beyond the first tote bag.

Made from 13 recycled bottles, the Made With Care ‘shopper’ bag is expected to be in Waitrose and John Lewis stores from 11 December. Profits from each £12 bag sold will go to the Building Happier Futures fund, helping to achieve the Partnership’s target of £1.1m for 2023.

Made With Care launched at a celebratory on Monday, 16th October, welcoming Care Experienced People, charities and Partners to mark the first anniversary of the Building Happier Futures programme.

Ahead of Care Leavers Week, the event brought together the many individuals and organisations key to last year’s successes to launch the first report on the programme – highlighting what it has achieved, where there have been learnings and what it hopes to do in the future.

In the last year, the Building Happier Futures programme has:

• Already generated over £1.1m in donations across the John Lewis Partnership, with over 125,000 charity-related products sold.
• Engaged over 180 young people with experience in the care system who participated in employability programmes, with 21 offered jobs in the Partnership.

Together with charity partners, the impact report highlights key successes:

• Helped unlock undergraduate scholarships for four Care Experienced young people through the Open University with students having started this autumn 2023 
• Trained over 200 Partners to better support Care Experienced young people to be successful when they become Partners, including launching an innovative eLearning module.
• Used our platform to influence Government policy and lobbied to secure the tripling of the apprenticeship bursary for care leavers from £1,000 to £3,000 and an increase in the allowance for children leaving care from £2,000 to £3,000.
• Over 180 Care Experiences people have attended drop-in sessions at our sites; of these, over 80 attended a work experience programme.
• Funded over 70 apprentices in 2023, with another cohort lined up in Spring 2024, with a total apprenticeship levy contribution of over £1.1m supporting 19 different charitable organisations who are upskilling their own workforce.

In the last year, the John Lewis Partnership became the first large retailer to receive a Fostering Friendly accreditation from the Fostering Network, contributed to a new Inclusive Employers Toolkit launched at the Care Leavers Covenant, and recently extended foster leave policies to include support for kinship carer Partners.

This builds on further successes, including the rollout of Care Experience training for everyone who works in the Partnership, transferring £1.1m of unspent Apprenticeship levy to charities, and donating over 1,120 microwaves to young people starting up in their new homes and more.