British Fashion Council

The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a non-profit organization that aims to enable sustainable growth of British fashion in the global fashion economy. Founded in 1983, the BFC organizes biannual womenswear and menswear showcases, London Fashion Week (LFW) and London Fashion Week Men's (LFWM) to promote "the best of British design" to an international audience.

Leadership and activities

Based in London, the British Fashion Council (BFC) is currently chaired by Stephanie Phair, and, since 2009, Caroline Rush CBE has been the organization's chief executive officer. Previous Chairs of the BFC have included Natalie Massenet, Edward Rayne, Nicholas Coleridge CBE, Harold Tillman, and Sir Stuart Rose.

The BFC organizes the biannual London Fashion Week (LFW) and London Fashion Week Men's (LFWM), showcasing the best of British fashion designs to an international audience of press and buyers. Alongside this, each season London Show Rooms takes emerging designers to Paris providing the opportunity to promote overseas. The BFC also organizes the annual Fashion Awards, designed to celebrate creativity and innovation within the industry, as well as London Fashion Week Festival (LFWF), an all-inclusive event open to the public.

Another facet of the organization's activities is to support the next generation of designers by supervising fashion higher education and apprenticeships in the United Kingdom.

In May 2018, BFC appointed former England football team captain, David Beckham, as its new Ambassadorial President.

2020 saw a number of organizational changes within the BFC including four new appointments to its board of directors on 4 September, who were specifically hired to combat prejudices within the fashion industry. The newly appointed directors; Jamie Gill, June Sarpong, Scott Morrison and Sian Westerman joined the remaining board membership comprising; Stephanie Phair (chairperson), Dylan Jones, Caroline Rush, Laura Strain, and David Pemsel.

The Council created a new committee entitled the Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee on the 16th of September 2020.

In November 2020, the BFC endowed Indian actress, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, with the new title of ambassador for Positive Change. The new BFC role, has been generated with objectives including the use of fashion as a ‘source for good’, and raising awareness of best practices within the industry including affirming principles that support inclusivity and positive ethics.

Joining other technology companies and fashion brands, Rakuten added its name to the list of BFC Patrons in 2021.

Development of the organization

The British Fashion Council (BFC) was established in 1983 as a non-profit limited company. Prior to the establishment of a single body to promote the interests of the British fashion industry, there were a number of organizations that existed to promote different interests within British fashion. These included:
* Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers (founded 1941/2)
* London Model House Group (1950)
* Fashion House Group of London (1958)
* Clothing Export Council (1965)
* London Designer Collections (1965)
* Fashion Industry Action Group (1981)

Events

The BFC's primary event is the London Fashion Week, which is a bi-annual London-based fashion show held routinely each February and September. The trade show typically showcases the work of over 250 international designers and engages a worldwide audience. The fashion week is organized by the BFC alongside other organizations.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the BFC announced that its 2020 February trade show would be held as a digital-only event, to feature the debut of Princess Anne, who followed in the Queen’s footsteps to present a special award at the event. The Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design was awarded by Princess Anne to Rosh Mahtani who was accoladed for ‘the craftsmanship of her jewelry.

All event attractions, from the commencement of the week on Friday 14 February 2020, were presented to its global audience online.

The event production crews, designers, models, and teams were assisted by Westminster Council with rapid Covid testing to ensure the success and safety of the event.

During the February 2020 Fashion Week, the BFC announced its scheme to enable one young designer to show their collection before a virtual audience. The new initiative was made possible in collaboration with MTV.

Following its February virtual showcase event, the BFC announced that it was to merge the Men’s Fashion Week into a new single, “gender-neutral” event.

Other events put on by BFC include the London Fashion Week Men's (LFWM), The Fashion Awards, LONDON shows ROOMS, and the London Fashion Week Festival.

BFC Support Initiatives

* BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund
* BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund Supported by JD.com, Inc
* NEWGEN
* Positive Fashion
*Coronavirus Foundation Fashion Fund
*The Black in Fashion Council

Coronavirus Foundation Fashion Fund

In response to the global pandemic restrictions and its move to showcasing fashion virtually, the BFC began to advocate increased support for fashion freelancers experiencing hardship and business disruption - lobbying the British government to put further policies in place to protect those being negatively affected.

Later in March 2020, the council launched its first coronavirus relief fund, committed to supporting those in the industry. The crisis relief fund aims to raise £50 million for struggling designers.

In May 2020, the Foundation Fashion Fund announced its first recipients of the £1,000,000 emergency fund. The fund was split between 37 different UK recipients.

The Black in Fashion Council

In response to the global reaction to the George Floyd tragedy and the Black Lives Matter protests, the British Fashion Council chief called upon the industry to take further action against racism.

The fashion industry was called to account for its longstanding cultural appropriation and lack of diversity, which led to a partnership of 38 organizations generating the Black in Fashion Council, including the British Fashion Council.

As part of its individual response to the BLM movement, the British Fashion Council launched its own project, celebrating Black British culture and fashion. The project includes a variety of programmed events, concluding with an exhibition showcasing the work in the summer of 2022.

BFC Charities

* BFC Education Foundation
* BFC Fashion Trust
* The Fashion Arts Foundation
* The Fashion Arts Commissions
* The Fashion Arts Film Commissions
* The Global Fund
* Britain Creates

Awards, nominations and prizes

* 16 November 2016 – The British Fashion council awarded Gucci’s New Creative Director, Alessandro Michele, the International Designer Award.
* 2 September 2020 – As part of its £500,000 grant scheme, the British Fashion Council distributed grants to 30 British labels, including Emilia Wickstead, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, Rokh and Charles Jeffrey Loverboy.
* 5 October 2020 – The University of Salford and the Central Saint Martins Royal College of Art has announced recipients of the British Fashion Council MA Scholarship.  The recipients of the scholarships were selected from these institutions based on financial need and aptitude.
* 15 October 2020 – The British Fashion Council announced 2020 Fashion Awards would be held as a virtual event on 3 December. As part of the ceremony, 20 winners would be celebrated for their resilience during the pandemic, and their determination to see change within the industry.
* 18 February 2021 – The BFC announced the shortlist of designers in line for receiving the prestigious British Fashion Council/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund.

See also

*Arab Fashion Council
*Council of Fashion Designers of America
*Fédération française de la couture
*Fort Fashion Council
*National Chamber of Italian Fashion

References

External links

British Fashion Council WebsiteBFC History

London Fashion Week Website



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British fashion
Business organisations based in London
Fashion organizations
Organisations based in the City of Westminster
1983 establishments in the United Kingdom