Menswear MA graduate Priya Ahluwalia has recently been announced as the winner of the 2021 British Fashion Council (BFC)/GQ Designer Menswear Fund.
The BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund was established in 2013 with the mission to celebrate exceptional talent and empower businesses to play their part in positive growth through receiving this highly-regarded prize. As part of the prize, Ahluwalia will receive a 12-month bespoke business mentoring programme, pro-bono legal services from Sheridans and a £150,000 cash prize to aid growth of her eponymous brand ‘Ahluwalia’.
To be eligible to receive the prize, applicants’ collections should consist primarily of menswear or menswear accessories and/or all gender collections. Ahluwalia was chosen from a pool of finalists including Bethany Williams, Bianca Saunders, Feng Chen Wang, Nicholas Daley and Stefan Cooke, who have all received mentorships to accelerate their businesses. Part of the BFC’s vision around how to reset the fashion industry includes understanding the breadth of fashion business models, which has been reflected in the criteria of the fund and promote positive development within businesses.
Ahluwalia’s namesake menswear brand draws inspiration from her Indian-Nigerian heritage by repurposing vintage materials in factories that employ rural women and pay them fairly, and she explores the potential of vintage and dead stock clothing, giving existing textiles a new life. She has shown at London Fashion Week Men’s since 2018, and her stockists include SSENSE, Browns and Matches.
She has had many prestigious achievements during her career, including being the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design, being chosen as one of the eight brands to win the LVMH Prize in 2020 and being named in Forbes Magazine’s 30 under 30 list for 2020.
Talking about her achievement, Dylan Jones OBE, Chair of Menswear for the British Fashion Council, said: “Massive congratulations to Priya! She demonstrated perceptive design and business acumen, drawing on the contemporary sensibilities of the modern consumer, propelling her to the top of the talent pool. It was a unanimous decision from the judging committee. I look forward to seeing Priya’s business grow and become an established international brand.”
Professor Andrew Groves, Professor of Fashion Design, added: “This is such an incredible affirmation of everything Priya has accomplished in just three years since graduating from our first cohort of MA Menswear students. Through runway shows, virtual exhibitions, and films, she has consistently reimagined the parameters within which fashion is presented. At the same time, she has used these to highlight issues of exploitation, racism, and unsustainable practices within the fashion industry. Her collaborations with brands such as Adidas, Ganni, and, most recently, Mulberry demonstrate both the desirability of her work and her ability to effect change within larger corporations.”
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