Fashion gurus are opening their doors to the public when their training college has its first season at Stratford’s East Bank cultural development.

They are running a free programme in September at the London College of Fashion’s new campus on the banks of the River Lea.

The mission is “to shape lives through fashion” by highlighting careers showing why “the world needs creativity” and a chance to look round London’s newest cultural quarter for creativity and higher education.

“We aim to create a space at East Bank for tackling issues around fashion and sustainability,” London College of Fashion’s cultural programming head Tamsin Ace revealed. “Our new public spaces mean visitors can freely explore these topics first-hand and discover the ways creativity can change the world.”

East Bank is to see world-renowned institutions like Sadler’s Wells and the BBC moving in with thousands of jobs for creative talent.

Up to five major exhibitions a year by the college are on the design table, along with weekend and evening events and pop-up moments.

The programme includes existing college events like the postgraduate and graduate shows as well as summer collaborations with the other East Bank organisations.

It begins on September 6 with the Designed for Life exhibition running until January 19 next year, celebrating decades of research by the college using textile, film, photography, artefact and personal case studies.

The exhibition highlights ways that design and fashion build community cohesion as well as creating jobs and training, with a series of supporting events by professional artists looking into the idea of civic space and relationships between storytelling and sustainability.

More cultural programme events are planned from September up to spring next year.

The college, first opened in Shoreditch in 1906, offers courses in all things fashion, from business to communication and design. Its move to Stratford after 117 years brings 6,500 students to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s burgeoning cultural complex, nurturing the next generation of creatives.