The British Fashion Council has announced 15 recipients of NewGen sponsorship.
Taking cue from a new format, which was unveiled earlier this year, the sponsorship will be awarded yearly to menswear and womenswear designers who plan to show during London Fashion Week and London Fashion Week Men’s.
A-Cold-Wall, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Halpern, Nicholas Daley and Richard Malone will join the roster of current NewGen recipients which includes Wales Bonner, Cottweiler, Phoebe English Man, Molly Goddard, Liam Hodges, Marta Jakubowski, Kiko Kostadinov, Paula Knorr and Sadie Williams. Richard Quinn will receive One to Watch aid and will be awarded exhibit space at the LFW Designer Showrooms. Meanwhile, Alex Mullins, Ashley Williams, Craig Green and Faustine Steinmetz have moved on from the initiative.
A-Cold-Wall, Cottweiler, Nicholas Daley, Phoebe English Man, Liam Hodges, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Kiko Kostadinov and Wales Bonner will present their collections during London Fashion Week Men’s in June.
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Meanwhile, Halpern, Molly Goddard, Paula Knorr, Marta Jakubowski, Richard Malone and Sadie Williams will showcase their ranges during London Fashion Week in September.
In addition, the NewGen designers will be given a pop-up showroom to showcase their ranges to buyers and press.
NewGen is a part of the British Fashion Council’s initiative to aid emerging talent, and offers showcasing space as well as mentoring for its businesses. This is the first year that the British Fashion Awards in association with Swarovski has raised funds for the BFC Foundation, which supports a number of initiatives, including NewGen.
Sarah Mower, BFC ambassador for emerging talent and chair of the NewGen committee, said selecting for womenswear and menswear simultaneously this year has “given the scheme a panoramic overview of London’s strength as a center point of young innovation.
“We have all been energized to see a surge of diverse talents from so many backgrounds whose focused individuality inspires us,” said Mower. “It’s a privilege to be able to join with so many mentors from the U.K. industry who volunteer to join together to put these designers on the proven fast-track to recognition and business success.”
“The new format of our NewGen initiative allows the BFC to be flexible in the support it offers emerging designers, and recognizes the changing nature of fashion business and showcasing models,” said Caroline Rush CBE, chief executive of the British Fashion Council. “We want to empower these designers to build and strengthen their brands in close alignment with their creative vision.”
In its 24th year running, NewGen aid has helped brands, including Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, Erdem, Jonathan Saunders, J.W. Anderson, Marques’Almeida, Mary Katrantzou, Nicholas Kirkwood, Roksanda Ilincic and Simone Rocha.
