BFC and JD.com toast return of BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jan 8, 2019

The British Fashion Council, British GQ and JD.com hosted a reception at Annabel’s in London to celebrate the return of the UK’s biggest menswear prize for emerging talent on Monday.

Now officially open for applications, the 2019 BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund will see a winning brand receive a £150,000 cash prize plus 12 months of high-level mentoring.

It was established in September 2013 following the success of its womenswear counterpart, and it was awarded to Christopher Shannon in 2014, Patrick Grant of E Tautz in 2015 and Craig Green in 2016.

After a two-year break, the latest iteration comes in partnership with Chinese giant JD.com, which has signed a two-year sponsorship deal as part of a strategy to expand its global fashion presence.

Dylan Jones, BFC menswear chair and editor-in-chief of British GQ said: “The UK is known globally for its creativity and innovative design talent. The fund enables us to support designer businesses through mentoring and to award one designer a cash prize which will help them make significant changes within their business and grow their profile further on an international stage.”

Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council, added: “We are thrilled to be launching the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund with the support of JD.com Inc. Xia Ding and her team have already been incredible partners and it’s a real pleasure to work with them to support the brilliant menswear designers that we have here in the UK. We look forward to receiving all the applications and to finding the next menswear global brand!”

Xia Ding, President of JD International Fashion said: “It is always a pleasure to support designers from the UK and the rest of the world. As China’s largest retailer, we are thrilled to be part of this initiative, which combines fashion and e-commerce to introduce talented international designers to China’s discerning consumers.”

Applications for the 2019 BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund close on 20 February.