Aries, Nabil Nayal and Teija Win BFC Fashion Trust Support
TRUST WORTHY: Three emerging fashion labels have won funding — and mentoring — from the British Fashion Council’s charitable initiative, the BFC Fashion Trust. They will join a list of five designers who were previously awarded the prize and who continue to benefit from the initiative.
The newest additions to the trust list are Aries, Nabil Nayal and Teija. They join previous recipients Marques’ Almeida, Mother of Pearl, Palmer Harding, Rejina Pyo and Sharon Wauchob, who will continue to receive mentoring and funding this year, according to the BFC.
The trust said that in 2018 it has awarded grants totaling 380,000 pounds between the eight designers. The BFC said the recipients were chosen “for their exceptional effort and development in the areas around e-commerce, sustainability, production and wholesale expansion.”
The charitable initiative was founded in February 2011, and offers selected British-based designers mentoring and financial support to promote the art and business of fashion. The BFC said the eight designers will benefit from international expertise and mentoring from the trust’s official partner HSBC.
They’ll also get legal advice from Taylor Wessing, digital training from Google, and mentoring on sustainability and industry best practice from Livia Firth and her team at Eco-Age. The trust has also announced Revlon as the official 2018 campaign partner.
The winners were announced during a cocktail event at the London home of Megha Mittal, founder patron of the BFC Fashion Trust.
“We believe it’s important that London stays the most creative place for fashion and the support we are able to offer from the Fashion Trust is a truly unique opportunity,” said cochairs Tania Fares and Sian Westerman.
In addition to the grant awards, the BFC Fashion Trust Founder Patrons also support a Graduate Traineeship Program, which offers graduates 12-month paid placements with a British based designer. Previously partnered brands include E. Tautz, Erdem, House of Holland, J.W. Anderson, Mary Katrantzou and Roksanda.
Since its inception in 2011 the BFC Fashion Trust has awarded more than 2 million pounds to 42 designer businesses to help with critical business support, such as developing web sites, e-commerce platforms and bricks-and-mortar stores.
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