The International Fashion Showcase launched in 2012 and celebrates London’s position as an international fashion city with a reputation for nurturing emerging talent. Organised by the British Council and British Fashion Council, the showcase takes place during London Fashion Week and will see more than 30 embassies and cultural institutions across the capital create fashion exhibitions which display their emerging fashion designers.
For the first time a central venue at 180 The Strand will house 14 showcases. This central space will be designed by architect Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio and will show the work of exciting emerging designers from countries including Argentina, Austria, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Nigeria, Paraguay, The Philippines, Portugal, Slovakia, Switzerland and Vietnam.
Other countries displaying the work of emerging designers in satellite exhibitions across the capital are Brazil, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Panama, Quebec (Canada), Romania, Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden), Tanzania and The Netherlands.
The Showcase offers the public together with the international press and buyers the chance to explore work by some of the most innovative young fashion designers from around the world.
Other highlights include:
Brazil : A showcase featuring the work of London-based Brazilian designers, Barbara Casasola, Lucas Nascimento and Fernando Jorge and Brazil-based Vitorino Campos and Guilherme Viera
Japan : An exhibition curated by internationally acclaimed designer and producer Yamamoto Kansai
Korea : Five unique installations developed in conversation between exhibition-makers Sofia Hedman and Serge Martynov. Participating designers will examine the new wave of Korean avant-garde fashion.
Two group shows will focus on regional emerging fashion – Denmark, Sweden and Norway will show the work of emerging Scandinavian designers in an exhibition within RePresent, a wider showroom of Scandinavian brands, and countries from Central Europe, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia will take a voyage through the work of ten emerging designers united by their geography and shared history on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Sarah Mower MBE, BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent and Contributing Editor to US Vogue, will chair an advisory panel that will judge the exhibitions and award the winning showcase with a trophy designed by Husam el Odeh (winner of the British Fashion Council Emerging Talent Award for Accessories in 2010).
In 2014 we will also launch two new awards for individual designer and curator. The winners in all three categories will be announced on Sunday 16th February, during a private reception at 180 The Strand.
“In multicultural London, where so many international fashion students study, we also appreciate that talent can come from all and any background, and that in fashion, everyone is wide open to being excited by individuality, variety and difference.” - Sarah Mower MBE, BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent and contributing editor Vogue US
Following the inaugural International Fashion Showcase in 2012, which was developed to celebrate the year of the Olympics and Paralympics and formed part of the Fashion 2012 cultural programme; to date the Showcase has presented 45 countries and over 300 designers.
The International Fashion Showcase is the first official collaboration between the British Council and the BFC.
