British Fashion Council names 2019 NewGen recipients
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Fashion
The 2019 NewGen talents have been announced by the British Fashion Council and includes support for Ahluwalia Studio, Art School, Asai, Bethany Williams, Bianca Saunders, Paria Farzaneh, Roker and Stefan Cooke for the first time.
Existing NewGen recipients A Cold Wall, Alighieri, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Halpern, Isosceles Lingerie, Matty Bovan, Nicholas Daley, Per Götesson, Richard Malone, Richard Quinn and Supriya Lele will also continue to receive support.
In addition, the British Fashion Council named new talent Eftychia with Newgen One to Watch support, which will see Greek-born, London-based designer Eftychia Karamolegkou receiving exhibition space in the London Fashion Week Designer Showrooms this September.
Eftychia wins Newgen One to Watch support
Karamolegkou studied fashion design at Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp and went on to graduate with a Masters in Womenswear in 2017 from Central Saint Martins. The young designer, who originally trained as a graphic designer in Athens, interned for Mary Katrantzou, Antonio Marras and Marques Almeida, before launching her own label in 2018, which features pieces inspired by traditional men’s tailoring that are infused with “raw femininity”.
Since its inception in 1993, NewGen has acted as a promotional launch pad for young designers including Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, Christopher Raeburn, Craig Green, Erdem, Jonathan Anderson, Marques’Almeida, Mary Katrantzou, Nicholas Kirkwood, Peter Pilotto, Roksanda Ilinčić and Simone Rocha.
British Fashion Council raises more than 2 million to support British fashion
Alongside the NewGen announcement, the British Fashion council also announced that in 2018, it raised over 2.3 million pounds for its charities and business support initiatives out of which 1.1 million pounds will be allocated directly to scholars and designer businesses.
With regard scholarships, the British Fashion Council confirmed that the BFC Education Foundation has increased its support from 11 to 21, taking the BFC’s financial commitment to students from 127,000 to over 200,000 pounds, more than a 60 percent year-on-year increase.
Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council said in a statement: “The UK has a reputation of having some of the best fashion schools in the world as well as the most innovative and creative talent. We are delighted to be able to support many of them from school-level all the way through to established designer businesses through all our initiatives; this further reinforces our reputation as an international hub for creativity, innovation, talent and business.”
In addition, the BFC’s education initiatives supporting young people looking to gain fashion industry knowledge and insight through National Fashion and Business Saturday Clubs, which provide opportunities for teenagers aged 14-16 to study in the creative industries, increased from 7 to 11 in 2018, allowing more than 200 teenagers to take part. Industry experts from brands including Apple, Asos, Nike, The Royal Opera House and WGSN shared their knowledge to teenagers with an interest in art, design and fashion through free college and university-hosted masterclasses.
Image: Asai AW19 courtesy of Asai