TfL Celebrates the Fabric of London in Latest Campaign

Transport for London (TfL) has unveiled ‘Fabric of London’, an integrated campaign by agencies of record VCCP and Wavemaker UK.

’‘Fabric of London’ is the winning campaign of Outernet London and The Standard’s competition, ‘London’s Greatest Advertising Competition’, which TfL was announced as winning in 2024. 

The competition invited advertising agencies and brand teams to create campaigns celebrating the rich diversity of London with the top prize offering an incredible £1 million worth of media space. This includes a much coveted cover wrap across the front of The Standard newspaper, and time on the giant immersive screens at Outernet, the UK’s most visited cultural attraction.

The campaign, ideated by VCCP, celebrates the ‘Fabric of London’: drawing on inspiration from TfL’s variety of seat moquette patterns which date back to the 1920s. TfL’s iconic moquette has been an integral part of the network’s identity since being introduced. Countless moquette designs have been developed over the years representing different elements of the city. The campaign centres around a reimagined moquette, using the iconic patterns of TfL’s seats to illustrate the richness and diversity of London and Londoners, drawing inspiration from TfL’s design heritage - iconic station tiles, and transport symbols such as escalators and buses hidden within the moquette.

The dynamic, animated tapestry personifies life in London as it narrates and animates the stories and lives of a broad range of Londoners, highlighting the capital’s rich diversity, and the unique experiences and communities of those living in the city. 

The campaign is built on extensive research led by cultural insight specialist Steven Lacey at The Outsiders. Through in-depth interviews with Londoners of all ages, genders, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and abilities, the team uncovered deeply personal stories of connection and the role TfL plays in daily life.

These stories express how all cultures are embraced in London, like taking the bus to a Hindu wedding and making wonderful, new and diverse friends, taking the Circle line to a club that embraces all orientations in South Kensington or even taking the DLR to run with 53,000 more marathoners of all backgrounds and abilities.

The stories were then transformed into artwork by VCCP and production company Everyone, with input from TfL’s Product & Industrial Design teams, and ‘sewn’ into a new, iconic TfL moquette. 

The “Fabric of London” narrative will be brought to life by media activations by Wavemaker UK. A beautifully crafted print version of the campaign will appear as a double-page cover wrap on the front page of the iconic London newspaper, The Standard, today.  The animated film was brought to life by VCCP’s digital experience agency Bernadette with Everyone, in an immersive storytelling experience making full use of the 3D environment at the Outernet's Now Building. The film is running for four weeks, across its 23,000 sq ft of floor to ceiling immersive screens.

 In addition, it will run for two weeks from 10th February on both printed and high impact digital out of home sites (DOOH) across TfL’s owned estate. Organic social will also run across TfL, The Standard and the Outernet’s own channels to ensure maximum audience reach. 

The animated film is accompanied by real sounds and voices of our interviewees who  narrate each story. 

Emma Strain, customer director at Transport for London, said, “Winning this coveted advertising competition with Outernet London and the Standard for a project that highlights the role TfL plays in bringing communities together has been especially meaningful as we celebrate our 25th anniversary of keeping Londoners moving.  

“The combination of TfL’s iconic moquette, a canvas synonymous with London, with the message that everyone has a place in this city in the dynamic creative is very meaningful.”  

Simon Learman, creative director, VCCP added, “This campaign is a celebration of everything that is truly great about London: one of the world’s most diverse cities, connected by a peerless transport system. TfL’s motifs are world famous, so they provide the perfect visual language to bring our stories of connection to life. Riding the network is almost like a rite of passage that automatically connects passengers both to the system and other Londoners. Our newly-designed seat moquette allows us to bring to life passengers’ testimonies and tie them in an emotional and physical way to TfL. Both the Outernet and The Standard also afford us a unique opportunity to bring to life the sheer scale and humanity of this project. It’s been a real labour of love.”

Oli Halliwell, client managing director at Wavemaker UK commented, “Fabric of London is a celebration of what makes London so great - our diverse community. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work in collaboration with TfL and VCCP to deliver such a thought-provoking campaign. The media activations we have planned and delivered will ensure Fabric of London is seen and enjoyed by Londoners and visitors far and wide.” 

Jessica Dracup-Holland, CMO at Outernet said, “We are thrilled to see the ‘Fabric of London’ campaign come to life on our world famous screens. From the moment my fellow judges and I saw the creative concept, we were all hugely impressed with how the campaign embodied the advertising competition brief, cleverly showcasing and celebrating diverse stories of the city through TfL’s iconic moquette. We know how much celebrating our unique  cultural landscape and diversity is deeply embedded in the identity of the people of this city, and we look forward to our audiences coming together to enjoy this stunning experience for themselves.”

Dan Locke, chief commercial content officer at The Standard said, "London’s rich diversity is at the heart of The Standard’s storytelling, and ‘Fabric of London’ perfectly captures the essence of our city through a powerful blend of heritage, creativity, and community. We’re proud to bring this winning campaign to life across our platforms, ensuring it reaches Londoners far and wide. By showcasing TfL’s iconic moquette in a fresh and meaningful way, this campaign not only celebrates the connections that define our city but also highlights the power of storytelling in shaping how we see London and each other.”

VCCP’s content creation studio Girl&Bear managed production of the campaign, and digital experience agency Bernadette, has overseen the animation of the Outernet and DOOH elements.