Designers Worn By Beyonce And Scarlett Johansson Among The First To Benefit From £1m COVID Bailout

The British Fashion Council just announced the first thirty-seven designer beneficiaries of its Foundation Fashion Fund—a £1 million ($1.2 million) pot put together to support those struggling through the COVID-19 crisis.

Hand-picked out of over 200 applicants, the designer recipients include a wide range of big-name Fashion Week-ers and talented young proto-brands.

At one end, you have the likes of Roksanda Ilincic (a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge), David Koma (loved by Beyonce and Scarlett Johansson), and Hussein Chalayan (a red carpet staple seen on everyone from Katy Perry to Rihanna), while lesser-known greats like Edeline Lee, Paper London, and Phoebe English also made the cut.

Each brand will receive up to £50,000 ($61,115), plus access to business support and mentoring from YouTube, Google, Instagram, Farfetch, Eco-Age, Farfetch and Value Retail.

The Council said the designers were chosen based on the urgency of each business’ needs and their “capability to come through and thrive post-crisis.”

But they don’t want to stop there. The Council’s official statement said that, while £1 million is a great start, the scale of need is much greater than its current fund, so they’ve “called on both Government […], and on the industry and individuals to support the BFC Foundation Fashion Fund through donations.”

They estimate that £100 million ($122 million) of support will be needed to help protect this decade’s generation of talent, and the make-or-break moment could last as long as eighteen months.

The fund will re-open for further rounds of applications so more meaningful support can be given every time the £500,000 ($611,000) milestone is reached.

The emergency support fund was initially created by pooling a series of existing fashion grants like NewGen and the Designer Fashion Fund, which is typically awarded to up-and-coming talent to support their London Fashion Week shows.

Major players like Alexander McQueen, Browns and Coach have all contributed to the second round of funding.

As part of the initiative this year’s Designer Fashion Fund, a partnership between the British Fashion Council and Vogue, has been distributed among all six nominees (including Loverboy and David Koma, again) rather than a ‘winner’.

The full list of recipients is as follows: Alighieri, 16Arlington, Ahluwalia, Aries, Art School, Bethany Williams, Bianca Saunders, Chalayan, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Chopova Lowena, Craig Green, David Koma, E. Tautz, E.L.V. Denim, Edeline Lee, Eftychia, Halpern, King & Tuckfield, Kwaidan Editions, Liam Hodges, Matty Bovan, Metier, Nabil Nayal, Neous, Nicholas Daley, Palmer//Harding, Paper London, Paria Farzaneh, Per Gotesson, Phoebe English, Raeburn, Rejina Pyo, Richard Malone, Richard Quinn, Roksanda, Stefan Cooke, Toogood.