The event’s principal sponsor is Vodafone, in its fifth of a seven-season sponsorship deal with the British Fashion Council. Vodafone customers will be able to get in to an exclusive viewing platform and VIP lounge, and have the chance to win tickets to live catwalk shows.
Brands supporting the event this year are using this opportunity to improve brand affinity, rather than just brand awareness.
Burberry, Clothing at Tesco, Debenhams, Harrods, Paul Smith and Topshop are all supporting The BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund, which provides mentoring and financial support in the form of a £200,000 grant to a new designer.
Previous winners include Erdem, Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders and Nicholas Kirkwood, which have all gone on to become established international brands.
Topshop, now a design force in its own right with Topshop Unique showing its first collection at LFW SS14 last year, is also extending support to the NEWGEN scheme, which offers catwalk, presentation and exhibition sponsorship to new design talent.
Mary Homer, managing director of Topshop, said: "Many leading designers have been launched through the NEWGEN platform and Topshop is proud to continue to support a scheme so focused on the developing and nurturing of young British designers."
eBay Fashion is sponsoring the BFC’s Fashion Forward shows, which provide support to NEWGEN graduates or designers at a similar stage of their career.
Last year, Fashion Forward designer Holly Fulton released a capsule collection exclusively on eBay, which included limited edition items designed exclusively for the site.
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