UK fashion designers to get £3m in government funding
The government will put £1m a year into the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN scheme for its next three rounds, up to 2028-29.
Emerging British fashion designers are to receive £3m of government funding over the next three years.
The money will go to BFC NEWGEN, the British Fashion Council’s talent support scheme, with £1m pledged to each of its next three rounds, from 2026-27 to 2028-29, the government said.
The scheme gives designers financial support, mentoring and the chance to show collections at London Fashion Week, held every September and February and considered one of the “big four” global fashion weeks alongside New York, Milan and Paris.
It has supported more than 400 designers since it was set up in 1993, including Alexander McQueen, Jonathan Anderson and Simone Rocha.
The government has funded the scheme in partnership with the British Fashion Council, a not-for-profit trade association founded in 1983, since 2023, recognising fashion’s importance both as a creative powerhouse and as a major contributor to the UK economy.
The Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, said: “Fashion is central to the soul of our country, not just in our economy where it is at the heart of our industrial strategy, but to our cultural identity as a nation.”
Nandy said the UK had “a proud legacy of iconic fashion houses that have stood the test of time”, naming Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood.
Nandy said the aim was to “cultivate the next generation of home-grown talent”.
The Creative Industries Minister, Ian Murray, marked the announcement at a showcase by Francesca Lake, a NEWGEN-funded designer from Kingston, Jamaica, alongside British Fashion Council chief executive Laura Weir.
Lake’s designs focus on celebrating untapped stories from Jamaica and amplifying them on a global scale.
Weir said the funding recognised “the vital role of sustained investment in nurturing the next generation of British fashion talent”, and that the scheme had “a proven impact on commercial growth, international visibility and the long-term sustainability of designer businesses”.
