BFC announces NEWGEN designers and reveals new format

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Feb 6, 2017

The British Fashion Council has unveiled a new format for its Newgen scheme, the designer support initiative that was sponsored by Topshop until last year.

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.

Moving forward, the programme’s primary focus will be business growth but will also continue to provide showcasing opportunities giving recipients support for a catwalk show or presentation at London Fashion Week or London Fashion Week Men’s.

Each recipient will be also allocated a dedicated pop-up showroom slot within the Designer Showrooms at The Store Studios.

“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,” said BFC chief executive Caroline Rush.

The menswear designers receiving Newgen support for January and February 2017 are Alex Mullins, Cottweiler, Craig Green, Kiko Kostadinov, Liam Hodges, Phoebe English Man and Wales Bonner.

As for womenswear designers, the lineup includes Ashley Williams, Faustine Steinmetz, Marta Jakubowski, Molly Goddard, Paula Knorr and Sadie Williams.

The initiative will be funded by the BFC Education Foundation, which raised £400k at last year’s Fashion Awards in partnership with Swarovski for its support schemes.