Retail giants support new talent

Two iconic British brands, River Island and ASOS, are nurturing young designers with two separate projects to support up and coming  talent. High street chain River Island is currently showcasing the work of James Lawrence, the graduate winner of 2007's River Island Gold Award. His range includes bright-coloured sunglasses, bags, belts, baseball caps and trilbies.

ASOS - As Seen On Screen - has partnered with the London College of Fashion to sell a limited line of the 100 finest works from the prestigious course's final year students.

River Island also launched a design competition open to all final year students from institutions exhibiting at Graduate Fashion Week to create a new Fashion Target Breast Cancer logo and to incorporate it into the design of a top accessory.

The winners designs are on sale now in limited edition numbers. Each item carries a 45% donation to the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer. River Island to date has raised over £8.5 million for the cancer research