The British Fashion Council (BFC) has announced the recipients of its designer support initiative NEWGEN MEN sponsored by Topman. New recipients Christopher Shannon and J.W. Anderson join inaugural recipients of NEWGEN MEN Carolyn Massey and James Long who will all receive showcase funding and the opportunity to use the official BFC show venue at Somerset House to show their collections during London Fashion Week’s menswear day, on Wednesday 24th February 2010.
Newcomer Christopher Shannon’s luxe sportswear inspired collections and wearable collaborations with Eastpak and Topman, as well as LFW credentials having shown as part of the MAN initiative, make him one to watch come February. J.W. Anderson’s intriguing silhouettes and romantic detailing have affirmed his stature as one of the most promising emerging menswear designers in London.
Carolyn Massey’s quintessentially English designs and James Long’s ability to push the boundaries whilst creating truly wearable pieces once again impressed the NEWGEN MEN Selection Committee made up of key opinion formers from media and retail. This season the panel included BFC CEO (Joint) and Panel Chair Simon Ward; Adam Kelly, Selfridges; Charlie Porter, Fantastic Man; Dylan Jones, GQ; Gordon Richardson, Topman; Jeremy Langmead, Esquire; Lulu Kennedy, Fashion East; Patrick Grant, Norton & Sons; Sarah Mower, Style.com / Vogue US and BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent; Stephen Ayres, Liberty; Terry Betts, Harvey Nichols; Tim Blanks, Style.com.
NEWGEN MEN follows on from the success of the MAN show and will support emerging menswear talent with business support and showcasing opportunities at London’s dedicated menswear day which will take place for the third season at the end of LFW after the womenswear shows.
Simon Ward, Joint Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council commented “NEWGEN MEN got off to a really strong start when it launched in September 2009 and the quality of applicants for this season shows what an incredible job many menswear designers are doing in this country right now. I am looking forward to a full menswear day of emerging and established talent next February.”
Sarah Mower, the BFC’s Ambassador for Emerging Talent, said "'All young designer businesses need to put in foundations on which to build a future - and one of them is the experience of what it takes to show and project themselves to press and public. London's nascent menswear designers have never had the same kind of opportunity to do that as womens’ in this city - so it's really significant that they are now able to compete for visibility on the same kind of footing - and that there is now a dedicated menswear day on the London Fashion Week calendar. It's a mark of London's dynamic flexibility and quick response to identifying potential that the New Gen initiative, with its cache of experience and the free and willing support of great industry figures as panellists, has been expanded to embrace this spontaneous upgrowth of fresh talent.'
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