Back in 2008 VOGUE and the British Fashion Council launched a new £200,000 fund to support Britain’s young design talent. BFC chairman Harold Tillman launched the fund, after having heard of the CDFA/Vogue collaboration for Fashion Fund in the US being a great success thought it was appropriate to launch a fund on behalf of designers based in the UK. The scheme was launched as a project for the BFC’s 25^th anniversary, major retailers, publishers and brands that support the fun consist of Burberry, Harrods, House of Fraser, HSBC Commercial bank, Jaeger, Marks & Spencer, TONI & GUY and Westfield shopping towns to name but a few. The aim of this scheme is to assist talented British designers with great potential to make that transaction into a global fashion brand.

The fund was inspired by British designers who through nothing but their own talent have managed to reach a certain level and build a business of their own, but just need that extra support into growing their business into something more solid. Vogue plays an important role when it comes to supporting young designers, and the international fashion industry looks to Vogue to bring British designers to the publics attention, and this fund has allowed Vogue to get involved in this procedure on a more practical level.

Applications have now officially opened for designers to apply for this years BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund prize. As well as the winner getting a £200,000 cash prize they will also receive unrivalled business and mentoring support. The shortlist of applications will be chosen by a panel consisting of, Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman, Marigay Mckee, Mary Homer and Caroline Rush, the chosen applicants will then be asked to attend an interview. The panel will all come with their own criteria as to what they think is important for success within a company but they are all looking for strong designer talent coupled with the ability to grow a business that will stand strong in the international industry, rather than just staying on the outskirts of it.

The fund’s focus is to support young designers who are based here in the UK and hopefully go on to showing as part of London Fashion Week. The fund is an outstanding opportunity for successful designers as there is no small money available to designer talent. As many designers know, bank’s don not really consider them to be an option as they do not want to spend their time of small accounts. Therefore designers must try and fund their needs from a private sector and the fund acts as that private sector. The Fashion Fund is not just their to provide designers with money, it is also a cause to encourage and help designers as well as advise, mentor and nurture the drive of new designer talent.

The closing date for this opportunity is November 5^th and in order to be eligible for this scheme designers must be UK-based with an established business, UK and/or international stockists and also support from key media can apply at www.britishfashioncouncil.com, the winner of this scheme must be fully capable of demonstrating a clear vision of how the fund will contribute to the growth of their company. The winner will be announced April next week in the May issue of Vogue.