British Fashion Council announces Fashion Trust winners

The British Fashion Council has awarded grants totalling 350,000 pounds between twelve London-based fashion designers through its Fashion Trust initiative, a charitable scheme that supports designers through mentoring and financial awards to promote the art and business of fashion.

The twelve British fashion labels who have won funding are: Eudon Choi, Fyodor Golan, Gareth Pugh, Hillier Bartley, Holly Fulton, Huishan Zhang, Marques’Almeida, Palmer/Harding, Phoebe English, Prism, Rejina Pyo and Sibling.

Launched in 2011, the Fashion Trust is a philanthropic programme created and developed in partnership with its co-chairs Tania Fares and Kim Hersov, and the Fashion Trust Committee who works with the British Fashion Council.

British Fashion Council chief executive Caroline Rush said: “We are thrilled to be able to support these twelve designers through the BFC Fashion Trust this year. The generous support of the BFC Fashion Trust members and Farfetch continues to help in the development of these brands and we are extremely excited to see how this initiative further enables their creativity and growth.”

In April 2016, Farfetch became the first official partner of the Fashion Trust, and the online marketplace will be offering the designers support by providing advice and mentoring in the digital, e-commerce and global markets. The designers will also be able to access to advice from Taylor Wessing on copyright and IP law and the global investment firm Rothschild.

British Fashion Council Fashion Trust awards grants totalling 350,000 pounds between twelve designers

Farfetch chief executive and founder, José Neves, added: “We are so pleased to be supporting this extremely talented group of designers alongside the BFC Fashion Trust. We recognise how important it is to be supporting and nurturing design talent throughout the growth of their brand and hope that our team of experts advising on digital, e-commerce and global market expansion will prove invaluable to the development of each of them.”

Some of the designers including Palmer/Harding have received funds before from the Fashion Trust, they used it previously to move their studio, and this year they plan to put the funds towards their first full-time employee, as well as invest in stock for their website to push the brand forward. Other previous recipients have used the funds to develop stores, website/e-commerce and also in the production of pre-collections.

First time recipients Marques’Almeida have earmarked the funds towards the business needs of its label including intellectual property and legalities, as well as investing in infrastructure, while Phoebe English will be putting the money towards continued growth and increased output following the launch of her menswear line, and rising star Rejina Pyo plans to invest more in her e-shop platform.

Tania Fares and Kim Hersov, said: “Once again we are delighted to support these talented designers for the year ahead. British fashion is globally recognised for its energy and originality which is why supporting the industry at grass roots is as vital as ever. These designers represent the future of the British fashion industry and we hope the Fashion Trust will further advance their position as global brands of the future.”

Image: Courtesy of British Fashion Council, Darren Gerrish