November 18, 2022 |
Who doesn’t love a good ol’ fashion prize? Here at Ten Towers we’re super fans – especially of one that champions inclusivity, individuality and innovation. We’re talking about the BFC Foundation BA and MA scholarships, awarded to a number of students who have an offer from, or are currently studying for, an MA or BA at a BFC Colleges Council member college each year. It’s a bid to support the future growth and success of the British fashion industry. This year, four of the merited winners sat down for a chat with our team. Out of nine MA and fourteen BA students, with seven more returning from last year’s competition, these four creative faces of the future were bestowed a chunk of the £248,000 that the BFC made available to its scholars.
First is Durham-born designer Alexander Neil and MA Final Year Scholarship frontrunner, whose grant is purposed to cover the costs of producing their final collection. Neil is currently studying at London College of Fashion and as a non-binary designer, they carve a new vision of menswear through a queer lens by celebrating the strength in otherness. Angelica Ellis, on the other hand, is an MA scholarship recipient and multidisciplinary artist who specialises in fashion design and hand embroidery. She transforms waste material into embellishment for embroidery while developing slow, small and handmade fashions that are narrative driven, inspired by identity and communities. Ellis was awarded the BFC scholarship to help towards her course tuition fees with a contribution to course costs or living expenses while at the Royal College of Art.
Another winner, Hannah Garner, was awarded the BA Final Year Scholarship which likewise aims to cover the costs of her final collection at Central Saint Martens. Hailing from Carlisle, she creates experimental political statement pieces, using fashion as a means of social justice and reform. There’s also South London’s Stanley Bryan, who received the Dior Men MA Scholarship. In its second iteration and third year, the scholarship contributes towards tuition fees, course costs and living expenses, and scholars are additionally provided with a direct point of contact from the Dior Men’s design team to provide advice and mentoring support for the duration of their scholarship. A fitting winner, Bryan is currently studying MA menswear at Central Saint Martins. His work explores his Jamaican heritage while simultaneously creating a futuristic universe for his designs to live in, highlighting the juxtaposition between the traditional and modern, nature and tech.
Assessing contenders based on talent and financial need, the panel of judges was also far from ordinary, with the biggest names in the industry sitting at the head of the table. Chaired by Sarah Mower MBE the chief critic at Vogue Runway and BFC ambassador for emerging talent, the panel includes the likes of Alexander Fury, the fashion features director of AnOther and men’s critic of the Financial Times; Tank Magazine’s Caroline Issa; former British Vogue fashion and accessories editor Donna Wallace; designers Edward Crutchley, Grace Wales Bonner and Matty Bovan; Ida Petersson and Heather Gramston of Browns Fashion; The Perfect Magazine’s creative director Jeanie Annan-Lewin; Machine-A’s Stavros Karelis; and 10 Magazine family member Tamsin Blanchard among others. Another panellist, writer Amanda Harlech, said of the contenders: “If the fashion industry is to survive and not just repeat itself, the new generations of design students are the lifeblood and the hope. All the candidates that came before the judging panel were compelling, intensely thoughtful with brilliant research and a thorough embrace of community, sustainability, social concern woven into collections of mind altering newness.”
ANGELICA ELLIS
What significant people or events informed your decision to pursue a career as a designer?
“I remember watching someone in a documentary when I was young, speaking about pursuing fashion design and I was fascinated by the idea that that was a career. The documentary exposed me to the creative industries and in turn gave me more confidence in myself and what I could achieve. My sister’s boyfriend (who is very much a big brother to me) was the one to really encourage me to fulfil my dreams.”
What recurring themes crop up in your work?
“My work is very narrative driven and I’m often inspired by my experiences and identity. I like to focus on telling stories from the lives of marginalised groups of people. I express these narratives through textiles and material behaviours, specifically hand-embroidery. For example, in my BA collection I used recycled Cola can metal to recreate armour. I also looked into how materials are formed in nature and how this can add to the story. My embroidery and textiles have always been very figurative, depicting people and objects that relate to the theme.”
It is an incredible accomplishment to have received the BFC Foundation Scholarship. What can you tell me about the moment you found out and what the award means to you?
“I’m so incredibly thankful. It was a crazy moment when I found out, especially since I’d had an awful summer and my self-esteem was at an all time low. I was with my mum at home when I found out the news. I had been feeling very anxious but finally, late in the day, I got the email saying I’d been awarded the scholarship and I had this really weird reaction – just started laughing in complete disbelief. My mum said it was really emotional to see me finally smiling again! It was a really healing moment for me.”
ALEXANDER NEIL
What significant people or events informed your decision to pursue a career as a designer?
“I’ve wanted to be a designer for as long as I can remember! I grew up in a very open and accepting family – which I’m extremely grateful for as I know not all queer people have that luxury – and I think that helped shape the designer I am today. I never felt limited in what I could achieve. I’ve always felt fluid and that was hard to understand when I was younger, but my creativity is something that has helped me to navigate that.”
What recurring themes crop up in your work?
“My work is an extension of my identity. It’s a place where I can play out my own consciousness, and understand myself more. I’ve always felt this dichotomy between being outside of the gender binary and completely intrigued by it, but being a designer has allowed me to explore all of the twists and turns that come with gender and queerness. My work is also about the connection between our consciousness and our bodies, how our experiences and backgrounds can inform the cut of a jacket, the choice of a fabric or how it is finished. It’s about how the garment makes the wearer feel – I want them to feel my version of power; soft yet strong, bold yet delicate. It’s like a form of subtle activism.”
It is an incredible accomplishment to have received the BFC Foundation Scholarship. What can you tell me about the moment you found out and what the award means to you?
“I’ve always suffered from imposter syndrome, so when I applied for the scholarship I don’t think I fully believed I was ready for it. When I found out I got an interview, I was actually with my brother in a charity shop in my hometown in the North-East. We jumped around and screamed and cried. The staff were so lush and even congratulated me. It was such a profound moment because I’ve always doubted myself to a certain extent but it felt like for the first time I could start to trust in my capabilities. The whole process from then on has been extremely validating. I really see this as a new beginning, both personally and creatively.”
HANNAH GARNER
What significant people or events informed your decision to pursue a career as a designer?
“Growing up on a council estate in Carlisle informed me from a young age that those without money are often left on the wayside of society and little is done to prevent this. My mam – bless her – was determined that I would not succumb to the same hard life. She attended church for a year so that I could go to a better school outside of my catchment area; she stopped smoking so that she could afford to send me to sports clubs; and like many working class mothers, put my life and comfort before her own. It was in attending this hard-earned secondary school in a “posh” area, that I came to the stark realisation that not everybody was in such a dire situation as us. In being a teenager, I had the luxury of time – time to reflect on our unjust society and to observe the differences between these disparate worlds, drawing me to search for a means and career with which I could help better the lives of the poor. I have also always been obsessed with how people present themselves to society by way of dress, makeup, etc, and how money can influence this. The physical safeguard that clothing provides the body, resolves that every human does indeed have the canvass to convey a message – fashion is the perfect tool for reform.”
What recurring themes crop up in your work?
“My work is about real, working people, highlighting the injustices they face and demonstrating the power they hold. I couldn’t, in good conscience, create clothing that merely serves to follow a trend, only lending itself to the corrupt and egotistical capitalist system. I use references from working people’s everyday lives, such as the food they eat, homes they live in, clothes they wear and struggles they face, to create an essence of inclusivity and relatability. Neither does my design practice have anything to do with me. Rather, my garments are steeped in messages which work to educate the disadvantaged on political and cultural matters. I hope to create a communal movement working to spread this message of defiance further until the whole landscape of politics has shifted and we have created an inclusive society.”
It is an incredible accomplishment to have received the BFC Foundation Scholarship. What can you tell me about the moment you found out and what the award means to you?
“It is an immense privilege and relief to be a British Fashion Council scholar because being of a poor background proves challenging when attempting to pursue a career within fashion. I’m not sure how I would’ve made it through the year without the additional financial support. Especially with the increasing cost of fabric and the cost of living crisis. However, incentives such as the British Fashion Council’s scholarship aid, are levelling the field for those from financially dubious backgrounds, removing financial stress and allowing creativity to flourish. Today’s fashion landscape is ultimately flawed, it has to change if it is to survive.”
STANLEY BRYAN
What significant people or events informed your decision to pursue a career as a designer?
“At the age of 16, I began the Art and Design course at the Brit School. That was where I decided I wanted to pursue a career as a designer because, there, I was able to focus on my art and allow my creativity to flourish.”
What recurring themes crop up in your work?
“When I design, I like to take inspiration from my Jamaican heritage and create a futuristic utopian world for my designs to live in. My work looks to capture the effortless “coolness” of Jamaican culture and reflect a positive, natural lifestyle. The aim is to bring these ideas into the future by combining them with futuristic architectural inspiration and technology, for example 3D printing. I also have an interest in developing my own textiles and pushing that in my work.”
It is an incredible accomplishment to have received the BFC Foundation Scholarship. What can you tell me about the moment you found out and what the award means to you?
“I am so grateful to have been awarded the BFC Foundation Scholarship because I have dedicated so much of myself to my work and just want to tell my story through art. It feels amazing to have my work appreciated. The scholarship gives me confidence to believe that my designs can stand out as something different and it will help me to continue to develop my ideas and at Central Saint Martens, which I would not have been able to without it. Plus, it brings me one step closer to setting up my own label!”
Photography courtesy of the BFC.
