BFC designer pop-up to bring best of British fashion to Bicester Village

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Oct 2, 2019

Emerging designers like Grace Wales Bonner and established fashion brands including Erdem, Mary Katrantzou and Sophia Webster will have their designs showcased in a pop-up up store at Bicester Village this October.

The initiative led by the owner of Bicester Village and the British Fashion Council will allow designers to trade free of charge and receive 100% of their respective sales.

Last year’s pop-up, which run for ten days and featured 14 talents, generated combined sales of more than £100,000.

This autumn’s line-up includes breakthrough prodigies such as Grace Wales Bonner, Camilla Elphick and Phoebe English, as well as established brands like Erdem, Hillier Bartley, Huishan Zhang, J&M Davidson, Mary Katrantzou, Paper London, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, Racil and Sophia Webster.

In total, 30 of Britain’s most exciting talents will benefit from the shopping platform, gaining access to over 450,000 high-spending new customers in the space of two weeks.

Caroline Rush, chief executive of British Fashion Council, commented, “We are thrilled to return to Bicester Village for the BFC Designer Pop-up, a fantastic opportunity for our British businesses to reach new customers and gain invaluable retail experience. 

“The Bicester Village Shopping Collection has supported the BFC for a number of years and continues to do so through the Business of Retail partnership which helps designers through tailored programmes of business mentorship and commercial opportunity.”

Some of the designers in the line-up are from the Business of Retail programme, including Erdem, Mary Katrantzou and Phoebe English, while other 2019 mentees are Emilia Wickstead, Rejina Pyo, palmer//harding and Mother of Pearl. 

The initiative offers mentees a one year tutelage from Bicester Village’s luxury brand merchants, hoteliers, hospitality experts and PR and marketing specialists across Europe and China. 

Desirée Bollier, chair and chief merchant of Value Retail Management, creator and operator of The Bicester Village Shopping Collection, said: “The Business of Retail programme provides a commercial opportunity and mentorship to the best British design talents. We tailor this to the brands’ individual needs, introducing them to new audiences and retail expertise, so that they can continue to fly the flag for Britain’s creative industries across the globe.”

The BFC Designer Pop-Up opens at Bicester Village on 8 October and runs until 27 October.