The QEII Award & The Next Wave of NewGen
Patrick McDowell and London's Next Generation of Designers
Many of you will know I’m friends with Patrick and we go back a good few years. I’ve walked in some of his shows, spoken on panels together and speculated about the industry from our working-class perspective. I actually interviewed Patrick for a book I’m yet to finish and learned a great deal about his story and what led him here.
This week he won the QE II award for British Design, which “recognises the role fashion plays in society and spotlights designers leading the way in terms of sustainability and community engagement”. If you’ve followed him, been to his shows or seen his collections, community is exactly what he has. A solid base of not just clients, but loyal friends and supporters of his brand and his ethos. They’re straight, queer, black, white, trans, cis, young, old and everyone. You’ll see his loyalty is shared back with his community too, in who he uses in his shows and the people he dresses for red carpets. It’s so obviously about community, and this is what has led the brand through tough economic times and industry challenges.
His talent as a designer is undeniable, and the strengths he has in depicting narratives through fashion are art. Having sustainability as a core part of everything came naturally to Patrick, it was always how he designed and made things since upcycling his school uniform and making his own school bag from other people’s unwanted stuff, before heading to CSM and making his graduate collection from surplus Burberry fabric. He was born and raised in Liverpool, and as a working-class kid, frugality was a necessity, which in my opinion, can foster the most interesting creativity.
I’m immensely proud of Patrick as I know some of the struggles he’s had over the last few years, not just the general challenges of being a small independent brand in London these days, but also one with such a strong voice and commitment to the right things. Especially in times where the industry is struggling as a whole and the economy isn’t operating in anyone’s favour.
The event at the BFC also announced the latest generation of award recipients, namely the BFC NewGen initiative, BFC Scholars, and BFC-Vogue/GQ Designer Fashion Funds and BFC Fashion Trust … Patrick himself was a BFC Scholar.
This moment to me feels like a changing of the guard as Caroline Rush departs from her role as CEO, so do many of the NewGen designers who’ve created a name for themselves over the past three years. This includes Di Petsa, an internationally renowned Greek designer, who speaks to women’s empowerment, beauty, and sensual dominance of women and others through her storytelling. Her most iconic design is the wet-look dress, adorned by celebrities all over the world from Mia Khalifa to Halle Bailey and Shakira.
Also graduating from NewGen are Labrum, whose designer Foday has completed big projects like designing the Arsenal football strip to partnerships with Adidas and furniture designs with Guiness, and having his own temporary store on Princes Arcade in London. The spiked enthusiast and all-round whirlwind of fun, Chet Lo, also continues on from NewGen.
Awarded for 25/26 though are a group of designers each with their own unique aesthetic, new visions, and fresh thinking to fashion. Conner Ives, who gained International attention recently for his “Protect the Dolls” t-shirt won the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund (£150,000). Nicholas Daley, Harri, Edeline Lee, Tove Studio and Clio Peppiatt receive the fashion trust grant.
The next crop of NewGen include Pauline Dujancourt, who on her first runway in February, really impressed . Marie Leuder brings a completely fresh energy to London; a grungy, Berlin rave scene. Tolu Coker, a semi-finalist of the LVMH Prize is also in the group as are Aaron Esh, Charlie Constantinou, Derrick and Steve O Smith.
There are many designers here that excite me about British fashion. When people were saying a few months ago that LFW is dead they has no idea what they were talking about. Not only are these designers talented and have clear expertise in specific areas, but many of them are also using their platforms to talk. Like back in the day. These emerging designers have a way of communicating to the world and aren’t shy about it. Whether it’s about global issues, or issues in the industry, they’re forging their own path, and discussing tough topics as they go. I welcome anyone who will step forward and say things with their chest. The progression of this is talented designers heading into a global world of fashion and the exposure it brings, who are activists in their own right and can change things from within, for the better.