Fashion East announces AW ´16 London Fashion Week designers

The chance to showcase your collection at Fashion Week is not an opportunity that many emerging designers get, which is exactly why Fashion East was introduced. Each season, the non-profit initiative selects a small group of up and coming designers to showcase their work during London Fashion Week. For the first time since its inception in 2000, Fashion East has chosen four womenswear designers to present their Autumn/Winter 2016 collection at the upcoming Fashion Week, instead of the usual three.

Caitlin Price and Richard Malone, both of whose collections have previously been showcased during the Fashion East fashion shows, will be joined by Richard Malone and Amie Robertson (A V Robertson). According to Fashion East Director Lulu Kennedy, applicants for this year's Fashion East were especially strong, and Amie Robertson was even recommended to the jury by accessories designer Katie Hillier and fashion journalist Katie Grand. “The selection process was getting impossible, until panel member Mandi Lennard suggested we award four designers instead of our usual three,” said Kennedy on the London Fashion Week website. “I am more excited than ever to reveal the talent we have chosen - it is the most brilliant lineup yet.”

Lennard, who founded fashion consultancy Mandi´s Basement, is equally enthusiastic: “Fashion East is throwing some of the freshest new names out there in February, and yet again shaking up their format - fashion´s new blood is about to be released from the starting blocks.” Other members of the panel who are set to critically examine the four talents, include fashion critic Charlie Porter, creative consultant Richard Sloan and Net-A-Porter fashion features director Kay Barron.

An interesting fact about the appointed designers for this year´s Fashion East, is that all the designers graduated from London-based fashion school Central Saint Martins (CSM). Price graduated in 2013, after which she was also awarded the Armani Scholarship. It is the third time she will show her collection at Fashion East. Malone completed his Bachelor at CSM in 2014, after which he has dedicated most of his time to setting up his label. His creations first hit the Fashion East catwalk during London Fashion Week in September 2015.

This is the first time that Robertson and Wade will participate in Fashion East. Robertson graduated from a Master´s programme at CMS in 2014, while Wade finished her Bachelor one year later. Robertson´s graduate collection demonstrated her keen eye for detail, as it featured dresses as well as accessories which were adorned with embellishments. Wade mainly derives her inspiration from Hollywood Horror heroines from the 1950s, as she sees it as “one of the few genres where female actors were able to act out.” The exact date of the next edition of Fashion East has yet to be announced, but it will coincide with LFW, which runs from February 19 to February 23 2016.

Image credit: Caitlin Price