British Fashion Council

The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a non-profit organisation that promotes British fashion design worldwide. It was formed in 1983 and is based in London. Industry patrons, commercial sponsors and the government fund the BFC. Its aim is to further the interests of the British fashion industry and support its designer businesses by harnessing and sharing collective knowledge, experience, and resources of the sector. The BFC’s purpose is to strengthen British Fashion in the global fashion economy as a leader in responsible creative businesses. It does so by championing diversity, building and inviting the industry to actively participate in a network to accelerate a successful circular fashion economy.

The BFC leads the industry through creative influence and is strategically repositioning British fashion in the global fashion economy. It showcases the best of British fashion design to an international audience by hosting the London Fashion Week, LONDON show ROOMs, and the annual Fashion Awards. Furthermore, the BFC helps designers at various stages of their businesses through support initiatives. These include the Colleges Council, an initiative that offers MA scholarships and facilitates links between the fashion industry and fashion graduates. The BFC also runs its own charities: The BFC Foundation formed in 2019, brings all its charitable initiatives under one umbrella supporting the future growth and success of the British fashion industry by focusing on three areas: Education, Grant-Giving & Business Mentoring and Institute of Positive Fashion. Some other support initiavies include The BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund, the BFC Fashion Trust, and the BFC Education Foundation are some examples. Another means of support of the BFC is its business intelligence, which is published in the Designer Fact-File, an online handbook for designers with the first ever in-depth statistic-based reports on the fashion industry.