The British Fashion Council announces Mary Katrantzou will join the NEWGEN selection committee for autumn/winter 2014. Mary is the first designer to sit on the panel, who meet to select the designers who will receive support to show at London Fashion Week in February 2014.
A previous recipient of the initiative, Mary first received NEWGEN, sponsored by TOPSHOP, support for her collection in spring/summer 2009 and has graduated through both the British Fashion Council’s (BFC) NEWGEN and Fashion Forward initiatives.
Mary Katrantzou comments: "I could not have managed to get where I am today without the support of the BFC and the NEWGEN Scheme. They gave me the opportunity to pick up prestigious stockists such as Joyce and Colette from my first season. NEWGEN is an unparalleled scheme and it is an honour to be included on the panel."
"I'm thrilled Mary Katrantzou has agreed to join our NEWGEN selection panel, as she's really our ideal poster-girl for how much an original talent can achieve through the scheme. Mary started out selling just a handful of printed shift dresses with NEWGEN at the first London Showroom in Paris in 2009 - now she exports all over the world. She will add the invaluable perspective of someone who knows exactly what it's like, and what it takes, to be a young entrepreneurial designer.
"NEWGEN committee members devote hours to advising young designers and putting them on the fast - track to visibility, thanks to the generosity of Topshop's sponsorship and donation of their show space. The interview stage is like the highest level personal tutorial for promising beginners, with freely given insights from the capital's very best retail executives, editors and buyers who are the ace team responsible for guiding Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders, Roksanda Ilincic, Peter Pilotto, J.W. Anderson, Simone Rocha and many more through their first steps in business.
"Now that we have a home-grown designer of the calibre of Mary Katrantzou on our mentoring team, those who reach the short list of NEWGEN will come out armed with a uniquely valuable set of pointers, and sustained support, if they win." - Sarah Mower MBE, BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent and chair of the NEWGEN selection committee
The NEWGEN selection committee forms mentoring support groups for NEWGEN designers, alongside a series of focused seminars and 1:1 workshops delivered by the British Fashion Council and support from TOPSHOP, the long-term partner of NEWGEN, who commit access to their team’s vast knowledge on all aspects of the business, to assist the designers as they build their own infrastructure and skills.
The NEWGEN committee comprises Sarah Mower, BFC Ambassador of Emerging Talent (Chair); Caroline Rush, British Fashion Council, CEO (Co-Chair); Alex Fury, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday and i, Fashion Editor; Anna Orsini, British Fashion Council, Strategic Consultant; David Watts, British Fashion Council, Business Support Manager; Emma Elwick-Bates, VOGUE, Style Editor; Kate Phelan, TOPSHOP, Creative Director.
It aslo include: Laura Burlington, Fashion Consultant; Laura Hinson, British Fashion Council, Showcasing Manager; Laura Larbalestier, Browns, Buying Director; Madelaine Evans, TOPSHOP, Head of Buying; Mary Katrantzou, Mary Katrantzou, Founder and Creative Director; Melanie Rickey, Grazia, Pop and Ponystep Contributing Editor; Narmin Mohammadi, British Fashion Council, Head of Showcasing; Natalie Wansbrough-Jones, ELLE, Senior Fashion Editor, Rebecca Lowthorpe, ELLE, Assistant Editor; Ruth Chapman, Matchesfashion.com, Co-Founder and Yasmin Sewell, Fashion Consultant.