Thursday 28 June 2018

Must see event - 16 of world's best emerging fashion designers to exhibit in London 11- 25th Feb 19 Somerset House


Talent and fashion innovation



International Fashion Showcase 2019

Sixteen of the world’s best emerging fashion designers to exhibit in London at the International Fashion Showcase 2019

11-25 February 2019
www.internationalfashionshowcase.com

Somerset House, West Wing Galleries Free Admission

The International Fashion Showcase (IFS) nurtures and presents work from the finest up- and-coming fashion talent from around the world. The biennial fashion presentation is a partnership between the British Council, British Fashion Council, London College of Fashion, UAL and Somerset House.
For London Fashion Week February 2019, the showcase has a new format. For the first time, 16 selected designers from across the globe will showcase a series of compelling installations to represent their respective country.
The 16 represented countries are: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, India, Georgia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Lithuania, Netherlands, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Uruguay and Vietnam.

Some of the participating designers include:

• Duran Lantink, from the Netherlands, whose ‘vagina’ trousers drew global attention in Janelle Monae’s PYNK video,
  • Self-taught Georgian designer Irakli Rusadze of Situationist
  • Rwandan Cedric Mizero and his bold ‘fashion for all’ designs


    The free exhibition is a key part of London Fashion Week, giving both the public and industry professionals the opportunity to discover emerging fashion from four continents: Africa, America, Asia and Europe and to celebrate its global relevance. 

    The collections presented offer a balanced mix of womenswear and menswear exploring topical but universally shared issues and present new ideas and solutions that are shaping fashion globally.
In another first, these designers will be supported through a bespoke online programme, developed by London College of Fashion, UAL, which will cover all aspects of business development from branding to sales and production to sustainability. They will also travel to London this August to attend a two week talent development programme, ahead of the February 2019 exhibition. This tailored cultural residency and business skills training will give the emerging designers the professional support that is often difficult to access, provided by some of the UK’s leading fashion and creative experts.
The designers will spend one week immersed in the creative community of Somerset House Studios where they will be supported by a range of studio artists whose skills and expertise range from ethical fashion and sustainability to tech. Another week will be spent with experts from London College of Fashion, UAL reviewing their business and brand development goals. During both residencies, the designers will explore, test and develop a series of collaborations and creative projects that will form part of their installations in February’s exhibition, and be given important insights into all aspects of business from branding and communications to sales.
Being part of IFS can be the springboard to international recognition. Eight designers who have previously shown at IFS have been nominated for the LVMH prize, 32 nominated for the Woolmark prize and four have won Hyères awards, these include Bodice and the- sirius. 15 have shown on schedule at LFW such as Per Götesson, Rejina Pyo and Xiao Li, five were awarded NEWGEN sponsorship and five have participated in LONDON show ROOMS in Paris.

Dates: 11-25 February 2019
Opening Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Saturday & Sundays 10.00-18.00 (last admission 17.00)
Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays 11.00-20.00 (last admission 19.00)
Address: West Wing Galleries, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA

www.somersethouse.org.ukFree admission
Transport: Temple, Embankment, Charing Cross, Waterloo
In recognition of the participants' creativity and innovation, an award will be presented to one designer during London Fashion Week February 2019. The winner will be decided by a panel of cultural and commercial fashion experts chaired by Sarah Mower MBE, BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent and Chief Critic Vogue US; the same panel that selected
the 16 designers earlier this year.


About International Fashion Showcase


The International Fashion Showcase was established in the year of the London Olympics as a platform for emerging fashion designers to exhibit their work during London Fashion Week as a competition that shares the same values of the Olympics; fraternity, respect, equality and excellence. Finalists were included a group show of work from Botswana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, as well as Belgium, China, Estonia, Italy, Japan, Korea and USA. Korea was the winning country with their exhibition.
The subsequent four IFS have presented prizes to designers and curators from Bahrain, Czech Republic, Colombia, Estonia, Japan, Lebanon, Nigeria and South Korea; and partnerships with On|Off and Fashion Scout.
Since 2012, more than 600 of the most exciting international designers from 70 countries have exhibited in the International Fashion Showcase. It reflects
providing opportunities for designers from overseas to engage with the UK fashion community and build international connections.
The Advisory Panel for the International Fashion Showcase 2019 is:
Chair: Sarah Mower MBE, BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent and Chief Critic at Voguerunway.com
Alistair O’Neill, Central Saint Martins and independent curator Alexandra Gordon, Liberty
Anders Christian Madsen, British Vogue
Andrew Tucker, London College of Fashion, UAL

Anna Orsini, British Fashion Council Ashish Gupta, Ashish
Ceri Hand, Somerset House
Hikari Yokoyama, Paddle 8

Mandi Lennard, Mandi’s BasementRobb Young, Business of Fashion Sarah Mann, British Council Stavros Karelis, Machine-A
Steve Salter, i-D
Tristran Webber, Royal College of Art



About the British Fashion Council
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 supports Boden’s Future British initiative. 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.
www.britishfashioncouncil.com
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About Somerset House
Inspiring contemporary culture
One of the city’s most spectacular and well-loved spaces, Somerset House is a new kind of arts centre in the heart of London, designed for today’s audiences, artists and creatives –an inspirational community where contemporary culture is imagined, created and experienced.
From its 18th Century origins, Somerset House has played a central role in our society as a place where our culture and collective understanding of the world is shaped and defined.
In 2000, it began its reinvention as a cultural powerhouse and home for arts and culture today, creating unique and stimulating experiences for the public, bringing them into direct contact with ideas from the greatest artists, makers and thinkers of our time. Our distinctive and dynamic year-round programme spans the contemporary arts in all its forms, from cutting-edge exhibitions and installations to annual festivals, seasonal events in the courtyard including Film4 Summer Screen, Summer Series and Skate, and an extensive learning and engagement programme.
As well as welcoming over 3million visitors annually, Somerset House houses the largest and most diverse creative communities in the country – from one-person start-ups to
successful creative enterprises including MOBO, British Fashion Council, Dance Umbrella, Improbable Theatre, Hofesh Shechter Company, and Dartmouth Films.
In 2016 we launched Somerset House Studios – a new experimental workspace connecting artists, makers and thinkers with audiences. Currently housing over 80 artists and Makerversity (a community of over 250 emergent makers), the Studios are a platform for the development of new creative projects and collaboration, promoting work that pushes bold ideas, engages with urgent issues and pioneers new technologies.
www.somersethouse.org.uk


London College of Fashion: Shaping Lives Through Fashion
London College of Fashion, UAL is a world leader in fashion design, media and business education. In boundary-pushing research where fashion intersects with science, engineering, and technology, and in enterprise, where it partners with top brands and helps launch new businesses. It has been nurturing creative talent for over a century, offering courses in all things fashion. Across every subject, it encourages students to examine the past and challenge the present. To have inventive, assertive ideas that challenge social and political agendas. It gives them the skills, opportunities – and above all, the freedom – to put those ideas into practice.
It starts with education, with over 70 undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and 165 short courses. Students come from over 100 countries. Some learn fashion design – its heritage, craftsmanship, radical thinking and high-tech practice. Others develop analytical skill, creative thinking and business acumen. Others still: cutting-edge approaches to traditional, experiential, and interactive media. They all examine the present in light of its deep historical context. And learn how to use fashion to build a sustainable future, and improve the way we live.
LCF moves fashion forward, by looking beyond it. We partner with fashion’s mostsuccessful brands and labels – both high street and luxury. LCF graduates are in key positions across every dimension of the fashion industry, from established designers like Jimmy Choo OBE, Sophia Webster and JW Anderson to rising stars like Ryan Lo and respected entrepreneur and former Chairman of the British Fashion Council, Harold Tillman CBE as well as fashion journalists Melanie Rickey and Sarah Harris.
In the next five years, LCF are moving to a single site at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London. There we will continue to do what we do today. Pioneer how we all consume and practice fashion. Use fashion design, business and media to shape culture, economics, and society.
And through fashion, shape lives.
www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/

Schelay McCarter - alumni London College of Fashion