The Winners of the 2017 BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund revealed
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London - Mother of Pearl and palmer//harding are the winners of this year's BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund. The winners were announced at a reception hosted at the Hotel Café Royal Monday evening.
"I am delighted that Amy and Levi and Matthew will be beneficiaries of this year’s award," commented Alexandra Shulman OBE, Editor of British Vogue and Chair of the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund. "Mother of Pearl and palmer//harding are very different in terms of the clothes they offer and the way they operate but both convinced us that we were backing brands with strong potential who understood how they could grow and who had and exciting vision."
Mother of Pearl and palmer//harding revealed to be the winners of the 2017 BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund
The new format, which was previously revealed November last year, sees the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund of 200,000 pounds spilt between the designers, who are set to use the money to further develop and grow their businesses. In addition, the winners will also receive a full mentoring programme through the BFC's Business Support tam, including access to industry experts and funders.
"I’m so pleased to congratulate Mother of Pearl and palmer//harding as this year’s recipients," added Caroline Rush CBE, Chief Executive, British Fashion Council. "Amy, Levi and Matthew impressed the panel with the clear vision they had for the future of their businesses, and showed a real understanding of how this money could be used to benefit and futureproof the growth of their brands. Both brands are built on strong and dynamic creative visions, and it’s an exciting time to see them expand commercially to complement this."
Mother of Pearl and palmer//harding were selected as the winning recipients of the 2017 BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund from a shortlist of designers which included Osman, Huishan Zhang, Shrimps, Sophie Hulme and Toogood. The designers were then invited to the Breather.com Maiden Lane Space in February to present their collections and business plan to the fund's panel, which included industry experts such as Helen David, Chief Merchant at Harrods, Mary Homer, Managing Director at Topshop and Samantha Cameron, British Fashion Council Ambassador.
Previous winners of the Fund include London Fashion Week designers Christopher Kane, Erdem, Mary Katrantzou, Nicholas Kirkwood, Peter Pilotto and Sophia Webster.The BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund is part of the BFC’s business support initiatives, which are designed to support British designers and businesses from graduation to emerging talent and future fashion start-ups through to new establishment and international brands.
Photos: Courtesy of the BFC