The British Fashion Council (BFC) today announces a new format for its NEWGEN initiative. With an aim to strengthen and streamline the support offered to designers, NEWGEN will now be awarded annually instead of seasonally, and will combine menswear and womenswear designers under one single initiative. Designers will continue to receive support for a catwalk show or a presentation at either London Fashion Week or London Fashion Week Men’s each season, as well as a comprehensive mentoring scheme.
Each of the NEWGEN designers will be also allocated a dedicated pop-up showroom slot within the Designer Showrooms at The Store Studios, 180 Strand. Each designer will take residence after their show or presentation to maximise sales potential.
The designers receiving NEWGEN support for January and February 2017 are:
Menswear: Alex Mullins, COTTWEILER, Craig Green, Kiko Kostadinov, Liam Hodges, Phoebe English MAN and Wales Bonner
Womenswear: Ashley Williams, Faustine Steinmetz, Marta Jakubowski, Molly Goddard, Paula Knorr and Sadie Williams
Bobby Abley, Diego Vanassibara and Ryan LO all graduate from the initiative this year.
The new annual format will relieve pressure from current and prospective designer recipients and allow the initiative to further tailor the support offered to each individual designer or brand. Moving forward NEWGEN will also reframe business growth as the initiative’s primary focus.
Caroline Rush CBE, Chief Executive British Fashion Council commented: “Our NEWGEN initiatives have supported so many incredible designers since their inception, and have been a strong foundation for so many brands. Moving forward, in recognition of the changing nature of fashion business models and the varying approaches brands now take to showcasing, the combined NEWGEN format will focus on building a strong foundation of business skills. This will allow us to nurture and support designers as part of a tailored and flexible initiative, which will allow them to build and showcase their brands in close alignment with their creative vision. I look forward as ever to supporting the new generation of British talent under NEWGEN. ”
This year for the first time The Fashion Awards in partnership with Swarovski raised funds for the BFC Education Foundation. £400k of the £700k raised is to be used to support schemes including NEWGEN, Business Support and the BFC Colleges Council.
The initiative calendar will run from June to February, and applications for next year will open later in 2017.