London-based global luxury retailer Matchesfashion has announced the launch of an initiative to champion young design talent from around the world.
Titled 'The Innovators Program' the 2.4 million USD initiative came to fruition during the coronavirus pandemic with a desire to futureproof emerging design talent. From late March Matchesfashion had kept in close touch with their designer community via Zoom where many were unsure how their brands would survive the rest of the year. The initiative honors design and creativity and will provide practical and committed support for each designer to ensure they continue to thrive through this unprecedented year. Built from a pre-existing womenswear project, the program has been extended to include the designer collections of menswear.
To kickstart the initiative, 12 designers representing the best in global talent have been chosen: Art School, Ahluwalia, Chopova Lowena, Stefan Cooke, Germanier, Halpern, Harris Reed, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Thebe Magugu, Ludovic de Saint Sernin, Bianca Saunders and Wales Bonner. The burgeoning talent were chosen for having a unique and powerful signature that is synonymous with the Matchesfashion DNA and diverse global customer base.
Each designer will receive an extensive package of steady and practical support for one year across all social, editorial, and marketing channels. In addition, they will also receive communication and marketing focus in global territories along with mentorship and preferential business payment terms.
'Our customers come to Matchsesfashion for our curation of fashion and are often looking for the very best emerging designers. Our success is rooted in authentic partnerships with emerging talent and we feel fortunate to work with so many talented designers. So, I am delighted to announce The Innovators Programme, a year-long commitment to 12 designers that offers meaningful support across retail, marketing, and communications with mentoring to help empower them. We look forward to working closely with these designers to connect them more deeply with our customers globally and help them scale their businesses,' Ajay Kavan CEO of Matchesfashion said in a press release.
'I am delighted that we have formalized our support for emerging talent, developing The Innovators into a program that actually helps future proof their businesses in what has been a tough year for the creative industry. I have worked with so many of these designers for a long time and I am so happy that we are committing to their visionary collections in a practical, material way,' Natalie Kingham, Buying Director at Matchesfashion added.
The Matchesfashion Innovators Programme will launch in September 2020 on Matchesfashion.com.
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