Getting Your Fashion Label Off The Ground
As a young creative, bubbling with talent, a fresh graduate free from education and ready for the industry, this can be a very exciting new venture for you. At the same time, this may also be a daunting and challenging phase. But don’t feel alone because there are many organisations that are ready to help. Your talent is just catwalk strides away from being noticed…
The British Fashion Council collaborated with Vogue in 2008 to form their BFC/Vogue Mentorship Scheme and have been continuing to change the lives of young fashionable entrepreneurs ever since. The two organisations aim to discover new talent, especially young graduates with the intention to accelerate their growth and skills over a twelve-month period through mentoring.
When starting a fashion label, you need to put your money into it, from sourcing the fabric to distribution. Often money is a hindrance to pursuing your label. The BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund offers you the chance to win awards such as a cash prize of £200,000, now that’s got to be worth seeing your designs shine. Molly Goddard who has been at it for four years, took the prize in 2018 but it could be you soon.
The designers who get shortlisted for the BFC scheme receive a full mentoring through the BFC’s Business support team, including access to funders and industry experts. They also get to sit on a roundtable hosted by Sir Paul Smith and a mentoring session with Rodials Maria Hatzristefaris. Don’t believe us? Previous winners of the BFC/Vogue designer award have included Erdem who was awarded back in 2010, Mary Katrantzou in 2015 and Sophia Webster in 2016. We certainly don’t need to remind you how well these three have done.
Graduate Fashion Week is another organisation that is reaching arms outstretched for the young creative. The GFW Protégé Project which was launched last year offers support to 20+ graduates from the Graduate Fashion Week event, an annual event that will be held this month between 3rd-6th June. GFW offer support as you enter into the fashion industry by pairing you with a long-term highly skilled industry mentor. The relief that help will be provided in a competitive and fast-paced industry can be very reassuring to those daring to enter into it. The mentoring panel for GFW Protégé Project is comprised up of volunteer executive professionals from the fashion industry within various sectors, from retail, design, manufacturing and business management, to PR, media and marketing. Henry Holland is a notable scholarship mentor of the scheme. As a graduate you would have access to your mentor for 2 years after the event, meeting in person on a 1-2-1 personal basis.
We know how difficult it can be to start any business and although you may think of your fashion label as just a passion, it is also your business if you wish to make a living from it. No doubt you have amazing talent just oozing out of you, but your business skills will certainly need polishing up if you are looking to take your label further. If you’re just needing a little guidance on your journey into the industry, Fashion Scout can provide you with this. They run mentoring schemes and offer one-to-one advice. This year they launched their first master class with guest speakers sharing their industry experiences and practical advice and tips on how to get into the fashion industry and success for your new business. Along with this, Fashion Scout also host off schedule catwalk shows and exhibitions during London Fashion Week promoting independent designers to a global audience.
We’ve got your back, now go design a coat to put on ours.
