The British Fashion Council (BFC) has announced that its charitable initiative BFC Fashion Trust has awarded grants totalling £450,000 between eleven designers; the largest donation by the trust to date. New recipients for 2017 are Edeline Lee, Georgia Hardinge, Isa Arfen, Sharon Wauchob and Teatum Jones. Previous recipients who continue to receive funding this year are Eudon Choi, Fyodor Golan, Huishan Zhang, Marques’Almeida, Osman and Rejina Pyo. The BFC Fashion Trust was founded in February 2011 to offer selected designers mentoring and financial support to promote the art and business of fashion. As part of the structured mentoring programme in 2017 designers will benefit from legal advice from Taylor Wessing, and Livia Firth and her team at Eco-Age will be mentoring on sustainability and industry best practice. The philanthropic programme is developed in partnership with Co-chairs Tania Fares and Sian Westerman, along with the BFC, and the Fashion Trust Advisory Committee. In addition to the grant awards, the BFC Fashion Trust operates a Graduate Traineeship Programme which offers graduates 12-month paid placements with a British based designer. The programme has the dual benefit of allowing graduates to gain insight and experience and for the designer’s business to benefit from additional support. Previously partnered brands include E.Tautz, Erdem, House of Holland, J.W.Anderson, Mary Katrantzou and Roksand.

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