LFW AW10: Vauxhall Fashion Scout and the FAD Competition

 

Young designers and young media (bloggers, for example), it's a marriage made in fashion karma heaven for good reason. Few of fashion's hierarchical hiccups are as frustrating or confounding as mega-PRs scooping up young designers for various sponsorships programs/competitions/mentorships/etc to herald the creativity of tomorrow and then deny tickets to the bloggers, the indie mags and other forms of alternative media. Yes I understand that the big wig press and big pocketed buyers need to be exposed up close and personal to the bright young things. But as anyone who works in the fashion industry knows, there's many a bright young think lurking round the fashion cupboard beyond the runway. And without that fresh blood rushing in like a waterfall of unemployed wannabe interns, the fashion world would dry up, stale and limp.


Now to my point. Vauxhall Fashion Scout, a young designer showcase alongside the main runway schedule, accommodates all walks of media at their shows. From Ones to Watch to the Merit Awards (which I sadly missed on account of conflicts and the last of NYFW), Vauxhall sponsors some of London Fashion Week's most exciting designers. Not that Margaret Howell's and her legions of khakis and macs isn't a scream, but it sure ain't half the hoot that it is to watch a young man fasten a corseted ensemble out of what looks like thousands of strands of licorice or skirts made entirely of wigs. Without the untainted, unretailified raw creative talent of the next generation ravishing the runways of the non-BFC variety, I'm afraid London Fashion Week would be very dull indeed.


And this season, proof positive of the venue's attitude towards the fast-evolving landscape of digital media, the whole shibang was sponsored by my blog's network, Glam. So it is in the spirit of sisterly support, of bloggers supporting young designers and vice versa, laying those first few bricks of the next generation of fashion's leaders that I present the FAD (Fashion Awareness Direct) Competition of 2010. FAD is a creative charity supporting young people, and aims to bridge the gap between education and the fashion industry.


The FAD Competition is dedicated to highlighting and encouraging undergraduate talent and this year, the charity received nearly 100 entries from over 34 UK colleges and universities. The 14 finalists include entrants from Manchester Met, Central Saint Martins, University of Salford and Nottingham Trent University.  They were charged with the brief of "exploring the concept of memory to create a future fashion legacy." Each finalist had to create two looks, one inspired by personal memory, the other by collective or shared ones. How Project Runway is this?


Alas, no aufiderzein here for our schadenfreude, just prizes. £2,000 went to the winner as well as a work placement with Dame Vivienne Westwood. Hooray for major (I won't say older) designers supporting their up and coming successors! I also applaud FAD's (and many a Vaxuhall show this season, not least House of Blueeyes) use of non rail-thin models. Guess the future may be more rosy and less 2012 (the movie) after all :)

 The FAD folks and the VFS owners announce the winners

And the winner is...Rasa Abramaviciute, Middlesex University

NB: Apologies as I'm not sure I have all the designers' matched to their correct looks, so I'll leave you with the list of names and the link! 

http://www.fad.org.uk/

Roxanne Goldstein, Northbrook College

Rasa Abramaviciute, Middlesex University (WINNER!!!!) 

Aimee Matthew-Jone, Central St. Martins

Rebecca Thomson, Manchester Metropolitan University

Vera Thordardottir, Istituto Marangoni

Dale Evans, Huddersfield University

Elke Baert, Istituto Marangoni

Alice-Jane Hutotn, DeMontfort University

Emma Liddell, University of Salford

Rebecca Solity, DeMontfort University

Richard Thorner, University of Salford

Alice Pearce, Nottingham Trent University

Luke Stevens, Central St. Martins

Steven Woodward, University of Brighton