If NEWGEN and Fashion forward are about getting your business lanched and thriving, the BFC Vogue Designer Fashion Fund is about taking your established business towards global hyper-growth.
As usual, it's a panel judging your applications - and those hoops are well worth jumping, because one winner will receive £200,000 without any expectation of shareholding. Even if you miss out on that, you'll stand a chance of getting access to mentors and other support to get things moving even further up.
The designer of the best capsule collection in the judges' opinion will win 6 months' paid work for the prestigious fashion house, as well as a grand to keep you in cosy sweaters.
The deadline for entry is 11th December and all the details are on the BFC site - good luck!
Okay LFW is officially over, but don't worry we've still got some SS10 goodness to share!
Last week we headed to The Camp (The City Arts & Music Project) in Shoreditch for Maaike Mekking's SS10 show. The Dutch-born designer's new ready-to-wear collection seeks inspiration from the great femme fatale characters of our favourite cult films. From sharp shirts and trousers, to stunning floorlength gowns, each look sent down the runway exuded feminine power and allure. A minimal palette of greys, black and white provide a backdrop for beautiful detailing- layers, pleats and cutout work. We also loved the intricate hand-drawn flower detailing that added a perfect feminine edge.
A celestial line-up of names have designed cards for a silent auction in aid of Shelter UK, including Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, David Bailey and Rankin.
On Sunday Catwalk Genius made a reutrn to Vauxhall Fashion Scout to take a look at the new SS10 collection from Harriet's Muse.
We were told to expect 'bold and naughty Victorian balloon prints; luxurious and tactile cloth' and we were not disappointed! Cheryl and Craig (the genius duo behind Harriet's Muse) have created stunning collection pieces in black, white, greys and creams. Trademark corsets were of course not forgotten this season, this time complemented with striking leather jackets, ballooning silhouettes and a delightful hot air balloon print. The sweet print and soft fabrics paired with corsets and leather is naughty but nice, and we love it.
London Fashion Week is well and truly upon us people!
On Saturday Catwalk Genius caught Alice Palmer's SS10 collection, What Happens in Vegas... at Vauxhall Fashion Scout. Palmer’s AW09 collection was influenced by the sculptural architecture of Tokyo, and this season, the inspiration stems from the extravagant hotels of Las Vegas.
Palmer sent down the runway her signature knits, this time tailored to the body, celebrating the female form. With structured tailoring and padded features, Palmer created a clear futuristic feel to her collection. This was complemented with beautiful Grecian draping that evoked the flamboyance of Las Vegas perfectly. As for colours, fine silk knits in a rich range of blues, purples and shimmering nudes were served up. This collection is sleek, feminine and absolute luxury.
Win a pair of front row tickets for the Georgie W Couture London Fashion Week show!
Our highest-funded designer, Georgie W Couture, is known for her sassy and sophisticated collections.
Now, she's offering one lucky winner the chance to win two front row seats at the London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010 catwalk show "The Girl Can't Help It", taking place on Friday 18th September 2009.
You will be amongst fashion editors, buyers, celebrities, and top fashionistas in the industry having VIP treatment all the way. The winner will also be giving a VIP goody bag, a chance to meet the designer herself and a Limited Edition Georgie W Couture special gift.
To enter simply answer the following question:
Name one of Georgie W Couture's stockists.
Email your answer to info@freshstrawberry.co.uk with 'GWC COMPETITION' as the subject heading. Include the following information in your email:
We've been asked by the Fashion Rocks for the Childrens Trust event to put a call out for designers wishing to showcase, sell or donate their work for their charity event:
It also looks like a good night out for fashion fans for the £20 ticket price.
Apparently located at The Old Sorting Office in High Holborn, the Red Bull Fashion Factory is said to be a bespoke high-tech show space hosting catwalk shows from both established and emerging designers.
The internet is beingly uncharacteristically coy on this one, but events planned are rumoured to include a series of Q&A sessions with designers and artists, live runway feeds, backstage reporting and interactive showcases from emerging photographers and artists.
David Koma is one of Central Saint Martin's alumni, having graduating from his MA course there in March of this year.
He'll get a show of his own at VFS, along with the support he'll need to make the most of the inevitable attention that this achievement will get him; William Tempest scooped the prize last season as part of his meteoric rise to prominence.
Welcome to fashion week, Mr Koma! I've a feeling you'll do rather well.
CG favourite Georgie W Couture is looking for models for two upcoming photo shoots in August, and a catwalk show taking place in September. Casting is this Sunday, 9th August.
If you are a size 8-10 and at least 5 ft 8, send 2 images (headshot and full length) along with your vital statistics to info@freshstrawberry.co.uk.You will be contacted if you are successful in getting through to the casting stage.
As part of the London Bridge Festival, this weekend will see the Fashion and Textiles Museum host 2 nights of incredible entertainment.
For 2 nights only the exhibition, drenched in glamour, knickers, corsets and bras will be
brimming with musicians, poets, dancers and designers who will
entertain you into the evening.
Visit the exhibition and listen to some soul music on Friday. Then on Saturday, treat yourself to a preview of the House of Blues underwear collection, featuring some amazing burlesque creations and art house performances.
Tickets will not only get you into the exhibition but will allow you to
discover some of London's hot new creative talents. An exhibition and a
show all rolled into one. To book tickets, visit the Fashion and Textiles website.
The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) launched Fashion in Motion over 10 years ago. It's aim was to bring catwalk fashion, from some of the world's best known designers, to the viewing public for free.
The next designer to feature at the V&A will be Giles Deacon, one of Britain's leading designers. Known for his use of colour and references to pop culture, Deacon has worked with Jean Charles de Castelbajac in Paris, in
Milan with Bottega Veneta and Tom Ford at Gucci, before setting up his own
label in 2004.
Deacon's show will feature at the V&A for one day only on Friday 17th July. Tickets to the event are free but are very limited, so be sure to order yours from next Wednesday the 8th July, by calling 020 7942
2820. You can also check out the V&A site for further details.
On Saturday, Lyns and I toddled along to talk style and MJ conspiracy theories with the fashion bloggers of Dublin.
This time, it was at the Lee Jeans showroom, with champers provided by Fallon & Byrne. The disco beat came from Trenspot's DJ Colin Brady and some of us (ahem) only went and won ourselves a pair of FitFlops! Good times.
Thanks go to them and to Ireland's leading voice on fashion, Annmarie - for coralling us all together every month. See our blogroll on the right for some cracking style reads from this fabulous bunch.
The lovely Sophie Ellis-Bextor clearly loves both great design and mockumentary, being as she chose to wear a piece by Jojo and Malou at the recent London premiere of Sacha Baron-Cohen's Bruno movie.
The new home of London Fashion Week, Somerset House, was the venue for announcing the current winners of New Gen sponsorship. Sarah Mower, the BFC's new Ambassador of Emerging Talent, got the pleasure of giving 17 designers the news.
Amongst the deserving winners were CG's very own LP.BG who won a presentation slot, where the audience will be able to view their collection in close up. They will also be in the exhibition at LFW in September 2009. Our old favourite Fred Butler was also sponsored again! Well done guys, we're very proud.
Well 2009's Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) is now officially over. We couldn't make it to Earls Court to see the creations for ourselves, but we have been keeping an eye out for our faves. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:
Kate Hamilton, Kingston University
Jamie Russo, Birmingham City University
Lauren Champion, UWE Bristol
Yasmin Siddiqui, Ravensbourne
And the River Island Gold Prize goes to..
Myrto Samou, UCA Rochester
For a full list of winners, head to the Fashion156 blog or keep an eye out on the GFW site.
It's Coutts London Jewellery Week and if you're a fan of innovative bling, you can see pieces from over 40 of the most exciting names working in British jewellery at the Treasure exhibition.
It's that time of year again where the smell of student fear infuses the air and the critics gather to raise a quizzical eyebrow/applaud generously as they see fit.
The last week saw Central Saint Martins BA show, lookey:
L-R: L'Oreal Professional winner Marie Hill, then runners up Dean Quinn and Luke Brooks.
That was followed closely by the London College of Fashion grad show:
L-R: Collection of the Year winner Hoi Lam Wong; Alicija Aputye, who won a textiles award; Alice Morton.
From Sunday, Graduate Fashion Week kicks off and the rest of the fashion grads can show off their skills.
Sarah Mower, BFC's new Ambassador of Emerging Talent. Photo: Andrew Crowley.
We were delighted to see that the British Fashion Council have appointed respected fashion journalist Sarah Mower to be the Ambassador of Emerging Talent.
Speaking to Vogue, Sarah said: "In Britain we have a phenomenon on our hands at the moment: a uniquely vibrant, varied and collaborative flowering of talent that is some of the most exciting on the world stage. I'm delighted to put myself at their service to help project that incredible energy and originality at home and internationally."
We couldn't agree more with those sentiments - congrats, Sarah.
Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) has been running since 1991 and for those of you less familiar, it was launched as a forum to showcase some of the UK's best graduating design talent. 2009's GFW will take place from 7th to 11th of June and features over 50 of the top fashion and textile Uni's in the UK and overseas.
This year sees the launch of the GFW Protégé Project to help new graduates find work. Graduating students can compete to win short term contracts to work with River Island, Mulberry, Asos, John Lewis, Peacocks and the Pentland Group. The project aims to give graduates commercial as well as design acumen, which might just help them run successful businesses in the future.
Any initiative like this which can make things even slightly easier for graduating students, can only be a great thing for the industry. Nice.
Jessica Au, Ravensbourne Graduate 2008
Poppy Dover, Kingston Graduate 2008 Images courtesy of www.catwalking.com
Fancy your chances at re-invigorating the fashion industry in London? Do you think your designs can make you a strong and viable business?
The Fashion Fringe was first launched in 2004 by IMG and is an annual project looking for undiscovered British designers. If you win, you will gain access to experts and benefit from their mentoring, business advice and potential development grants.
