London Fashion Week 2012: Who to Keep an Eye-Out For

London Fashion Week is fast approaching running from 17th February to 22nd and with it young up and coming fashion designers get the chance to increase their exposure through the NEWGEN programme.

Below is brief summary of what NEWGEN is all about followed by some profiles of autumn/winter 2012 winners who may well be around in February.

NEWGEN

NEWGEN is a talent spotting scheme founded by the British Fashion Council which showcases new designers. The programme offers designers the opportunity to use the BFC’s catwalk show space as well as contributing financial support towards their shows. It also offers sponsored presentation or exhibition space. It’s a fantastic scheme which allows young, UK based designers the opportunity to show their work to important fashion media outlets and buyers from around the world. The scheme also provides business support in partnership with certain firms. It began in 1993 and since then has gained an international reputation. NEWGEN has been sponsored by Topshop since 2001 and will celebrate ten years of this sponsorship later in February.

Successful NEWGEN designers include Alexander McQueen, Julien Macdonald and Christopher Kane to name but a few. NEWGEN designers have now become must see collections at London Fashion Week.

Holly Fulton

Holly Fulton was an autumn/winter 2012 NEWGEN winner in the catwalk category. Her clothing is defined by graphic prints, luxurious materials and fantastic accessories. She won the Swarovski Emerging Talent Award for Accessories at the British Fashion Awards in 2009. She produces a simplistic, bold aesthetic that features luxury statement pieces to punctuate outfits. Holly Fulton puts an emphasis on wanting to produce accessible and easy to wear clothes which still maintain a sense of luxury. In 2009 she produced an ‘art deco’ collection which illustrates well her preference of bold, block colours.

David Koma

Originally from Georgia, David also won in the NEWGEN prize in autumn/winter 2012. He studied at St Martin’s college for both his undergraduate and masters. His work is defined by sculptural shapes, heavy embellishment and a perfect fit. He is well known for tightly fitting dressing and technical prowess. Koma seems to regard the body as a kind of blank canvas through which he can show off the female form. In a 2011 collection he constructed dresses with a Polynesian tribal theme, setting motifs into dresses or on jersey devore so they looked painted onto the skin.

J.W. Anderson

J.W. Anderson is a young designer from Ireland who originally received acclaim for menswear, but has now turned to women’s clothing. A notable trait within his work is creating androgynous clothes which can be worn by either gender. He, too, won the autumn/winter 2012 NEWGEN award.