This story is part of ‘Debunking the Dream: Part Two’, a series based on an exclusive survey of 300 fashion designers, examining how they are navigating luxury's current crisis and how the industry might emerge stronger from it. Read it all here.
When KidSuper founder Colm Dillane won LVMH’s Karl Lagerfeld/Special Jury Prize in 2021, it catapulted his career into another realm. The award was “life-changing”, he says, and without it, he wouldn’t have been appointed as interim creative director at Louis Vuitton following the death of Virgil Abloh in November that year. “It was a stamp of approval,” says Dillane of the prize. “Like a base camp I can always go back to.”
Not everyone is so fortunate nor so ready to capitalise on an award win. Prizes and incubator schemes represent important opportunities for independent fashion designers, but they do not guarantee success. Take the top three fashion prizes — the LVMH Prize, the Andam Prize and the International Woolmark Prize. Since they began, they have collectively produced over 100 winners and hundreds more finalists. How many of these award winners have built stable businesses? “If you try to think about the winners of past contests or if you ask someone who the winner was five years ago, they don’t even remember,” says talent scout Sara Sozzani Maino, who is also creative director of Fondazione Sozzani and Milan Fashion Week’s international new talent and brands ambassador.
The benefits can be extremely short-term. “In almost two decades of mentoring, I have seen very few who have the real talent to ‘make it’ and even fewer who have the staying power once they do,” says Fashion Revolution co-founder and Estethica creative director Orsola de Castro, who is a regular judge of fashion prizes and mentor incubation schemes. “Winning is very ephemeral, and it doesn’t necessarily provide a springboard.”
Some critics fear that the multiple schemes and prizes available to independent designers simply reinforce the industry’s top-heavy adulation of star designers. Aside from a limited number of scholarships and apprenticeships aimed at promoting entry-level artisanal jobs, there is no equivalent support system for in-house designers or technical staff.
For all their well-meaning intentions, critics say annual awards tend to shine a short-term marketing spotlight on emerging names but struggle to equip those designers to build self-reliant, sustainable brands. “We need to prepare [designers] for how to run their businesses when that support stops. A lot of designers struggle because it’s like the carpet has been pulled out from beneath them,” says Ida Petersson, former Browns buying director and co-founder of brand strategy and creative agency Good Eggs.
The prize and incubator carousel can also create pressure. “When you start a brand straight out of college and go into the incubation schemes, you set out on a crazy normal,” says designer Astrid Andersen, who took part in London’s well-respected non-profit incubator Fashion East. She was also shortlisted for the LVMH Prize twice (2015 and 2016) while running her eponymous first brand. “Eventually, you realise the impact of all that stress and constant evaluation, that feeling of: is everything I’m doing measuring up to expectations?”
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It seems remiss to criticise awards and schemes to which many industry professionals devote much time and energy, often unpaid. “[But] fashion prizes can be a double-edged sword,” says Felita Harris, founder of Raisefashion, a non-profit network offering pro-bono advisory to BIPOC designers across business development, legal advice and supply chain support. “They provide visibility and much-needed resources, but they also come with immense pressure to produce results quickly. It’s essential for these competitions to prioritise sustainable growth over immediate success.”
Those who run incubation schemes are well aware of the challenges. In today’s climate, they point out that designers’ aspirations are shifting, and new business models are emerging. Incubation schemes also have to evolve, says Isabella Rose Davey, COO of Copenhagen Fashion Week, which currently supports four emerging designers on its New Talent programme (Rolf Ekroth, Stamm, Alectra Rothschild/Masculina and Berner Kühl). “We’re faced with brands that don’t want 100 stockists. Maybe they just want to do direct-to-consumer, or commissions or special projects. So it’s also about us staying abreast of different business models and adapting the support for that.”
The British Fashion Council (BFC) is currently researching future-proof business models with the London Business School, hoping to offer fashion designers a better blueprint for building a profitable business in a challenging market and adapt its support systems accordingly. The findings will be published in the ‘Commercialising Creativity’ report at the end of October. “Because of the challenges that we’ve seen in the past year with wholesalers, [brands] are really thinking about how they diversify their revenue streams,” says BFC CEO Caroline Rush. “[The report] will explore the opportunities and partners that can help designers do this.” The BFC also adapted its Newgen criteria this season, removing the requirement for minimum stockists and asking designers to reapply each season.
Plugging the gaps in the prize and incubation ecosystem
The Vogue Business survey showed that some elements of support schemes and awards are more beneficial than others. When asked which aspects they found most useful, 54 per cent of survey respondents say financial support, 43 per cent say networking opportunities, 30 per cent say visibility or exposure, and 24 per cent say mentorship. Only 33 per cent of survey respondents who have taken part in schemes or prizes say they contributed positively to reaching their overall career goals.
Emerging designers may have over-optimistic expectations. Lulu Kennedy, who runs Fashion East and is often dubbed ‘London fashion’s fairy godmother’, says designers need someone to “get into the trenches” with them. Fashion East takes on three designers per season, with each designer offered the chance to show and receive mentorship, sales appointments and bursaries for three seasons. “Maybe they think [what an incubator is for is] a photo op or an award ceremony, but it’s actually a studio visit, a factory visit, going through their systems, budgets and cash flow, granular stuff like that,” she says. “Above all else, it’s about allowing them to find their own voice, pace and customer.”
Support is often one-size-fits-all but could be better catered to individual needs, suggests consultant Cozette McCreery, who worked for Bella Freud, Jasper Conran and John Galliano before co-founding cult knitwear label Sibling (2008-2017). Some designers might want help renting studio space, others might need financial support with no strings attached, or access to a small-unit factory. “The main thing is that, if the support is financial, it is a decent amount of money that can last over a longer period,” she says.
Eligibility varies from programme to programme, but most only consider brands that have been operational for at least a few seasons, meaning they need to have funded fashion shows prior to applying for the scheme. Survey respondents say talent incubation schemes often favour those who have attended fashion school, another costly commitment in most cases. To garner acceptance for those who have taken less traditional routes into the industry, talent incubation schemes and fashion prizes could consider a lack of resources and access in their judging criteria while improving the diversity of the judges, says Milan-based designer Edward Buchanan.
In order to support different business models, Copenhagen Fashion Week’s Davey proposes that incubation schemes should form a “talent tunnel”, offering tailored support for each stage of business growth. Expanding notions of support could encourage different ways of working instead of pushing a conventional business model based on wholesale partnerships and fashion shows. “We often end up in bubbles and don’t see other possibilities or other ways of working,” says Matthew Needham, sustainability lead lecturer at Central Saint Martins. “Unless we change the system, the way we design and the way we treat designers won’t change.”
Better connections with the supply chain are important, Davey says. 1 Granary and sustainability consultancy The Bear Scouts are working on this, supporting emerging designers such as Chopova Lowena, Knwls and Masha Popova through production know-how and building lasting relationships with the people making their clothes. The International Woolmark Prize helps designers build supply chains around the wool products they design, focusing on financial sustainability.
Mentoring alone isn’t enough
Mentorship is often touted as necessary for fashion designers. According to survey respondents, a good mentorship programme offers “exposure to less visible roles”, getting advice from people with “real experience”, and learning how to present ideas and pitches in a more “professional way” to accelerate progress. Mentorship can be particularly useful for people who don’t have pre-existing relationships in the industry and those who need to understand “the challenges of creating a product from scratch”, filling gaps in their knowledge.
Established mentors can be helpful in introducing designers to their networks. However, the industry has changed dramatically in recent years — and many veteran would-be mentors may not have kept up with the transformations. KidSuper’s Dillane points out an uncomfortable truth: “You talk to someone who’s been one of the biggest designers for 40 years; they can’t change your career with advice because they don’t know what it’s like to start now.” One solution might be to offer multiple mentors rather than just one, suggests Petersson.
Mentorship tends to be hands-off, temporary and voluntary. Beyond the limitations of mentorship, designers need long-term commitment and access to capital. “I’m not a huge believer in mentors. I’m a huge believer in board members: people you trust who also perhaps have skin in the game in a meaningful way. People think that mentorship is going to be this magic bullet, but I think a lot of founders at this point have been over-mentored and undercapitalised,” reflects Aurora James, founder of Brother Vellies and 15 Percent Pledge, who is also vice chair of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
This holds particularly true for survey respondents from BIPOC backgrounds. While they are more likely to have taken part in mentorship programmes (20 per cent of BIPOC respondents, compared to 8 per cent of white respondents), they are concerned about their financial stability. When asked how they measure their success, BIPOC respondents are significantly more likely to cite financial security (79 per cent, compared to 59 per cent of white respondents), while white respondents are significantly more likely to highlight fulfilment and a sense of purpose as the most important indicators of success (78 per cent, compared to 62 per cent of BIPOC respondents).
“When you look specifically at Black designers who have faced systemic racism and haven’t had access to executives, financing or corporate culture, they are simply left out of the conversation,” says Harris of Raisefashion. “Access to capital is essential, especially for emerging and BIPOC talent who often face barriers in traditional funding spaces. Without the right financial resources, it’s nearly impossible for designers to manage their businesses, scale their production or invest in growth. We are getting lost in all the prizes, grants and contests. That flicker of support is not turning into a flame; it’s not sustaining brands.”
Among the 45 per cent of survey respondents who had applied to an incubation scheme or fashion prize, 18 per cent were successful. Within this group, 59 per cent report receiving financial support as part of the prize or scheme.
“The most beneficial support mechanisms are those that provide a well-rounded blend of financial support, mentorship, industry connections and business education. We [as an industry] have not nailed that yet,” says Harris. “In an industry as fast-paced and complex as fashion, having someone who understands both the business and creative sides can be transformative.”
Building a stronger infrastructure of support
One viewpoint suggests that talent incubators and fashion prizes, for all their supportive intentions, are over-shielding designers from the tough realities of the marketplace. Jamie Gill, a non-executive director at the BFC and founder of non-profit The Outsiders Perspective, warns against reliance on both schemes and awards in business planning. “Incubation schemes are an enhancement, but designers are not entitled to that support,” he says.
Newgen designer Chet Lo says these schemes require absolute buy-in and commitment from designers. “People ask me whether they should apply for Newgen, and I’m like, ‘Do you have an accountant? Do you have cash flow projections? Do you have regular suppliers and manufacturers? Do you have your own PR? What infrastructure do you have in place that are actually of a business model? Do you know what your five-year goal is? What’s going to happen after you leave? This isn’t just for you to keep surviving; this is actually an incubation programme. You have to know exactly where you want to go from here.’ I feel very passionately about people not abusing the opportunity but actually using it to better themselves.”
Some fashion weeks rely heavily on government funding to support emerging talent. Berlin Fashion Week receives over €4 million in investment each year from Berlin’s Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises. Many designers showing on-schedule can only show because of the €25,000 awarded to them from Berlin Contemporary, its main emerging designer programme.
However, funding is never guaranteed. The International Woolmark Prize, for example, is funded by Australian wool farmers, who pay a levy to the company and vote on how it’s spent every three years. “Right now, the farmers like the prize and the campaigns we do, even though they don’t always see them — and the farming world is a long way from the fashion world. But at any time, they could vote to pay less or nothing towards the levy,” says CEO John Roberts, noting that the prize has already been reconfigured in recent years from annual to biannual, while the regional finals have been shelved.
Likewise, Rush says a third of the BFC’s funding is from government grants (the rest is from partnership revenues and philanthropy programmes). The BFC is, therefore, always faced with the potential impact of a change in government policy. “We would love to have more finance to give to more businesses,” says Rush. “There is, understandably, a lot of disappointment.”
Copenhagen Fashion Week has been running an incubation programme for the past three years without government funding. Its support comes from established brands like Ganni and Birger Christensen Collective. “That collective support for the new generation, connecting the industry, is a really powerful statement, having big brands supporting little brands,” says Davey.
As well as bridging the gap between large and small brands, fashion councils can work with governments to create a more hospitable environment for designers, Rush says. This can help tackle systemic challenges such as access to visas, tax incentives for different business models, and complying with new legislation. The European Fashion Alliance has been modelling this approach at EU level, lobbying for sustainability legislation.
Future-proofing fashion education
Could design schools do more to prepare their students for the fashion world? Survey respondents say fashion education still has a long way to go. Of the 300 designers surveyed, 89 per cent are either currently attending fashion school or have attended previously. Some 62 per cent considered it worthwhile or very worthwhile, although more to legitimise their skills rather than qualify them with new ones. “I didn’t really learn any concrete skills that were applicable to the industry, but having the degree was instrumental to me getting hired,” says one respondent. “Everything I know about fashion design I have learnt on the job, in the workplace.”
Deputy and creative directors are significantly more likely to view fashion school as “very worthwhile” (38 per cent) compared to designers at intern, entry or junior level (18 per cent).
As with many disciplines, there’s only so much that can be learnt at a design school in relatively short time frames — and yet current academic thinking is always looking to expand reach. “Fashion education today must go beyond the traditional curriculum; it’s about exposing students to a wide array of fields such as gender studies, disability studies, political science, AI and technology, digital media, biology [and economics],” says Ben Barry, dean of fashion at Parsons School of Design. “These disciplines expand their thinking and provide the tools they need to innovate. It encourages students to think beyond the traditional role of a fashion designer, and it fosters adaptability, which is crucial in a rapidly changing industry. In today’s world, fashion designers can no longer operate in silos.”
Read ‘Debunking the Dream: Part One’ — last year’s series on achieving success and avoiding burnout — here.
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This story was updated to reflect Jamie Gill's role as a non-executive director at the British Fashion Council (14/10/24).
