The British Fashion Council (BFC) is delighted to announce the launch of the 2019 BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund supported by JD.com Inc, a £150,000 cash prize with 12 months high-level mentoring to accelerate the winner’s business and grow its global reputation. Caroline Rush, CEO British Fashion Council and Dylan Jones, Chair of Menswear and Editor in Chief of British GQ hosted a reception at Annabel’s Private Member’s Club to celebrate the re-start of this incredibly important menswear fund and to officially open applications.
Leading Chinese company JD.com Inc. generously supports the BFC/GQ Menswear Fund as part of a two-year sponsorship deal that was announced in September 2018 as part of the BFC’s China Partnerships Strategy 2018-2020. With China being the world’s second largest consumer and luxurymarket and an increased interest from Chinese consumers for British designers, the partnership allows the BFC to help design talent better engage with the Chinese market as part of the fund’s mentoring programme and JD.com’s goal to expand its global fashion presence and bring more British brands to China.
Dylan Jones, Chair of Menswear British Fashion Council & Editor in Chief of British GQ said:
Caroline Rush, Chief Executive, British Fashion Council commented: “We are thrilled to be launching the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund with the support of JD.com Inc. Xia Ding and her team have already been incredible partners and it’s a real pleasure to work with them to support the brilliant menswear designers that we have here in the UK. We look forward to receiving all the applications and to finding the next menswear global brand!”
Xia Ding, President of JD International Fashion said:
The BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund supported by JD.com Inc. is the UK’s biggest menswear prize for emerging talent. The prize was established in September 2013 following the success of the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund. The Fund is aimed at businesses that have been trading for over three years, with UK and international stockists. The shortlisted designers will be chosen according to their potential to develop into a global designer brand and to benefit from the level of support the Fund offers. Previous winners include Craig Green, E. Tautz and Christopher Shannon.
Please apply here for the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund supported by JD.com Inc. The deadline to submit applications is 20th February 2019.
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“The UK is
known globally for its creativity and innovative design talent. The fund enables us to support designer
businesses through mentoring and to award one designer a cash prize which will help them make
significant changes within their business and grow their profile further on an international stage.”
“It is always a pleasure to support designers from
the UK and the rest of the world. As China’s largest retailer, we are thrilled to be part of this initiative,
which combines fashion and e-commerce to introduce talented international designers to China’s
discerning consumers.”
The British Fashion Council (BFC) was set up in 1983 to promote British fashion internationally and co-ordinate this promotion through fashion weeks, exhibitions and showcasing events. The BFC now supports designers beginning at college level and extending to talent identification, business support and showcasing schemes to help British designer businesses develop their profiles and business globally and promote British fashion and its influential role in Britain and London. The BFC Colleges Council offers support to students through its Foundation, BA and MA scholarships, links with industry through design competitions and Graduate Preview Day. Talent identification and business support schemes include BFC Fashion Film; BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund; BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund and NEWGEN which includes womenswear, menswear and accessories. The BFC also runs and owns charities including the BFC Fashion Arts Foundation, the BFC Fashion Trust and the BFC Education Foundation. Showcasing initiatives and events include London Fashion Week, London Fashion Week Men’s, LONDON show ROOMS, International Fashion Showcase, London Fashion Week Festival and the annual celebration of creativity and innovation in the fashion industry: The Fashion Awards.
British GQ – Urbane, upscale, bold and always stylish, GQ’s status as a byword for men’s style is unparalleled. Known for the highest standards in feature writing and photography, the UK’s leading quality men’s fashion and lifestyle magazine has won innumerable awards in its 30-year history. The monthly magazine has a combined print and digital circulation of 110,051 (ABC Jan-June 2018); a readership of 939,000 (PAMCO Apr‘17- Mar’18); and GQ online has 3,018,087 unique users (Google Analytics Sept-Nov 2018). In addition to print and digital, GQ hosts events including the annual GQ Men of the Year Awards, GQ Food & Drink Awards, GQ Grooming Awards and GQ Car Awards.
Website – www.gq-magazine.co.uk/ Twitter – BritishGQ Instagram – britishgq
JD.com Inc. is a leading technology driven e-commerce company and retail infrastructure service provider in China. Its cutting-edge retail infrastructure enables consumers to buy whatever they want, whenever and wherever they want it. The company has opened its technology and infrastructure to partners, brands and other sectors, as part of its Retail as a Service offering to help drive productivity and innovation across a range of industries. JD.com is the largest retailer in China, a member of the NASDAQ100 and a Fortune Global 500 company.