CFE appoints head of new Fashion Innovation Agency

London’s business incubator that supports and nurtures

emerging fashion design talent, the Centre for Fashion Enterprise, has named Matthew Drinkwater as head of its new Fashion Innovation Agency.

Headed up by Drinkwater, who has a background in luxury retail, the agency will seek to develop designer businesses through innovation and commercial partnerships and will sit alongside the centre’s Fashion Ventures programme that supports designers.

Prior to his new role, Drinkwater helped established the European subsidiary of Tabio Corporation and developed high profile collaborations with footwear brand Kurt Geiger.

In addition, the CFE has also announced that Fashion Fringe winner’s Fyodor Golan, Teatum Jones and Marques Almeida are the latest recipients of its Fashion Ventures programme. Each label will be given dedicated business development support, cash subsidiaries for PR and marketing and free studio space for the next two years, spanning four catwalk seasons.

More than 200 designers have passed through the CFE’s programmes over the past decade including Mary Katrantzou, Peter Pilotto, Erdem and Richard Nicoll.