Glasgow: Scotland with style Campaign Aims to Support Cream of City’s Emerging Design Talent at London Fashion Week

 

Four emerging Glaswegian fashion designers are being given the necessary financial support to showcase their talent at London Fashion Week (LFW) in September 2006 under the umbrella of the Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective.

 

Jennifer Lang and Christopher Kane have been accepted by the British Fashion Council to exhibit at LFW in the Main Tents at the Natural History Museum, while Niki Taylor from Olanic and Sarah Raffel of Brazen will showcase designs at OnIOff at the Royal Academy of Arts.

 

The young designers are all either from the Metropolitan Glasgow area, have trained here, or have chosen to be based in the city.

 

The advisory panel responsible for sifting through the applications received for the Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective comprised:

 

·         Eva Arrighi, Beauty and Lifestyle Editor - Sunday Herald Magazine.

·         Alison Melton, Head of PR & Marketing – Cruise.

·         Linny Oliphant, Brand Manager – Johnstons.

·         Jimmy Stephen-Cran, Head of Textiles – School of Design, The Glasgow School of Art.

·         Moira Dyer, Senior Manager – Public Relations at Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, the company with responsibility for the Glasgow: Scotland with style campaign. 

 

The panel was unanimous in its choice of candidates who then went on to submit successful applications to the British Fashion Council and the organisers of OnIOff.

 

The Glasgow: Scotland with style campaign was launched in March 2004 to reposition the city as a cosmopolitan, European destination as well as a modern, dynamic location for inward investment and tourism. 

 

It locates the city in Scotland yet is broad enough to apply to a wide range of ‘products’, whether these be art, architecture, events, food, film, sport, the performing arts, fashion or design.

 

Chris Hunt, of local marketing consultancy Genuine, had seen the success of the Glasgow: Scotland with style city branding campaign and the areas in which it was operating and approached Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (GCMB) in late 2005.

 

Chris Hunt said:  “I met with Glasgow City Marketing Bureau in November 05 and put together a presentation on how we might work together to promote and support local design talent in their efforts to gain independent commercial success through the Glasgow: Scotland with style campaign.

 

“I got the go-ahead from GCMB virtually then and there as they realised the importance of nurturing new talent and so the Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective was born!”

 

As the sole sponsor of the Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective, GCMB has committed in excess of £35k towards the initiative during London Fashion Week 06.

 

This funding will not only enable the successful designers to exhibit at The Tents during London Fashion Week or at OnIOff and assist Christopher Kane with staging his début catwalk show, but will also comprise pre-publicity, advertising and an after-show party – all of which should help attract the attention of UK and international press and buyers.

 

Commenting on the initiative, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau Chairman, Councillor Alex Mosson, added:  "We are very aware of how difficult it can be for young, emerging designers to secure the necessary support to enable them to showcase their work on the international stage.

 

"Through the Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective, these emerging Glasgow designers will now have the opportunity to exhibit at London Fashion Week this September and demonstrate to a highly influential audience the burgeoning creative talent that exists in our city."

 

Plans are also afoot to showcase the city’s emerging visual artists during LFW at the Tea Building in Shoreditch where much of London’s cutting-edge design community and creative agencies are located.  The Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective will also be co-hosting an evening reception in the building’s Tea Bar.

 

Scott Taylor, Chief Executive – Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, added:

 

“Whether you are inside ‘The Tents’; checking-out OnIOff; part of the audience at Christopher Kane’s fashion show or dropping by The Tea Building in Shoreditch, you simply cannot fail to notice that Glasgow: Scotland with style is at London Fashion Week!”

 

Images and biographies of the Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective can be found at: www.seeglasgow.com/design

ENDS                                                                                                  August 06

 

For more information please contact:

Chris Hunt @ Genuine

Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective Project Manager

T: +44 (0) 845 838 0268

e-mail: chris@genuinepr.com

 

(or)

 

Moira Dyer, Senior Manager – Public Relations

Glasgow City Marketing Bureau

T: +44 (0) 141 566 0831

e-mail: moira.dyer@seeglasgow.com

 

Notes to editors:

 

  1. Glasgow City Marketing Bureau is currently undertaking a raft of activity as part of the £1.83 million strategic positioning campaign for Glasgow: Scotland with style in key international markets through until the end of 2007.  The campaign includes advertising, public relations, sponsorship and web activity and was originally launched in March 2004 with a budget of £1.5 million.
  2. In 2005, £1.83 million was committed for its strategic positioning comprising £1.14 million from Glasgow City Council and £687,509 from the European Regional Development Fund.

 

 

Quotes from the Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective Advisory Panel:

 

  • Linny Oliphant, Brand Manager – Johnstons

"As a Scottish cashmere and fine woollens manufacturer and brand since 1797 with worldwide presence we currently employ over 700 people in our mill in Elgin in the far north of Scotland and factory in Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

 

“We are fiercely proud of our Scottish heritage and young Scottish design team and are delighted to join the judging panel of Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective.

 

“The Collective is reviving Scotland as a powerhouse of iconoclastic design and creativity and provides the final candidates with the invaluable opportunity to exhibit at London Fashion Week.

 

“London Fashion Week remains a key date on the international fashion calendar for all designers and brands, including ourselves.  

 

"This guaranteed exposure of the Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective to international press and buyers will be the most important stepping stone for these emerging designers.  Design is also commerce and only succeeds if there are sales."

 

  • Alison Melton, Head of PR and Marketing – Cruise

"This is a fantastic opportunity for emerging designers to exhibit during London Fashion Week.

 

“Cruise is one of the UK’s leading and most progressive independent retailers with a fantastic reputation not only for designer brands but as a showcase for new, fresh cutting edge fashion, so we are very excited to be involved with the Glasgow Scotland with style Design Collective.

 

“The quality of applicants was exceptionally high which made it a very difficult job to shortlist, but the final candidates chosen all show an exceptional, unique style."

 

·         Jimmy Stephen Cran, Head of Textiles – School of Design,

The Glasgow School of Art.

"The biggest threat to any emerging designer today is how easy it is to be copied by the high street.

 

“There seems to have been a defiant move by many young designers recently to favour limited production with increased emphasis on intensive handwork.

 

“This smart approach is very evident in the Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective. 

 

“Today’s emerging designers, more than ever, need to be able to balance originality of concept with commercial viability.  The Glasgow: Scotland with style Design Collective certainly demonstrates both ‘wow factor’ and wearability.”