Shortlist announced for 2017 BFC Vogue Designer Fashion Fund

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jan 24, 2017

The British Fashion Council has announced the shortlist for the BFC Vogue Designer Fashion Fund 2017, with British based designers Huishan Zhang, Mother of Pearl, Osman, palmer//harding, Shrimps, Sophie Hulme and Toogood in line for the prize.

This year the fund, supported by Burberry, Harrods, Paul Smith, Label, Topshop and Vogue, will adjust its format to offer support and aid to more up and coming designers, which means the prize of £200,000 will be divided between up to three recipients, instead of just one.

Additionally, further awards of mentoring and business support may be awarded to other shortlisted brands.

Winners will continue to receive a full mentoring programme through the BFC’s Business Support team, including access to founders and industry experts.

“This year’s shortlist is an excellent demonstration of the breadth of fashion talent in this country. Any one of them will be a worthy recipient of funding that is specifically designed to help their business in a very targeted way so that it can grow into a greater role on the global fashion stage,” said British Vogue editor and chair of the Fund Committee Alexandra Shulman.

The nominated designers have been selected for their potential to develop into a global designer brand by a committee of experts from across the fashion industry including the BFC’s Caroline Rush, Helen David from Harrods and British Fashion Council Ambassador Samantha Cameron.

The shortlisted designers will be interviewed by the judging committee on Thursday 2 February 2017 at Breather.com’s Maiden Lane Spaces in London, and the recipients will be announced on Tuesday 4 April.

The BFC Vogue Designer Fashion Fund was launched by BFC chairman Harold Tillman in September 2008. Since then, it has supported some of today’s most well-known UK based brands including Erdem, Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders, Nicholas Kirkwoord, Peter Pilotto and Mary Katrantzou. Footwear designer Sophia Webster was crowned the winner of last year’s fund.