Four fashion alumni from the University of Westminster, Steven Stokey Daley, Robyn Lynch, Paolo Carzana, and Priya Ahluwalia have been named as the newest recipients of the British Fashion Council's NEWGEN award.
All the award recipients are menswear designers. Robyn Lynch and Priya Ahluwalia graduated in 2018 from the Menswear MA course, while Steven Stokey Daley and Paolo Carzana graduated from the Fashion Design BA Honours course in 2020 and 2018, respectively.
BFC NEWGEN is the most established talent identification scheme globally and designers are identified by their creativity, strong design aesthetic and point of difference. BFC NEWGEN supports the very best emerging talent and aims to build global, high-end fashion brands of the future.
Steven Stokey Daley, Robyn Lynch, and Paolo Carzana were previous recipients in 2021, with Priya Ahluwalia receiving the award in 2020.
NEWGEN sponsorship is awarded annually to ready-to-wear and accessories designers, offering them financial support, showcasing opportunities, and mentoring to develop critical skills to future-proof their businesses. The BFC delivers individual mentoring and business training sessions to assist the designers as they develop their infrastructure, with pro-bono legal services from DLA Piper, and tax and accounting support from RSM. The BFC NEWGEN committee is led by Sarah Mower MBE, BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent.
Speaking about the announcement, Westminster’s Professor Andrew Groves said: “Westminster has an exceptional reputation for menswear design, which is supported by the world-class Westminster Menswear Archive, which allows students and alumni to conduct object-based research to inform their design work. These awards are a tremendous acknowledgement of the world-class creativity and entrepreneurial spirit exhibited by Westminster graduates. Each in their own way has contributed to the evolution of the fashion industry by proposing new ways in which fashion can be produced, presented and consumed.”
The NEWGEN awards are part of the British Fashion Council’s (BFC) annual programme of talent support. In the financial year 2021/2022, the BFC remitted over £1.3m in funds to designers and scholars. £932,500 was paid by the BFC Foundation as part of the BFC’s grant giving initiatives including scholarships and talent support schemes BFC NEWGEN, BFC/GQ Designer Fashion Fund, BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund and BFC Fashion Trust; over £400,000 was paid to designers through brand partnership collaborations secured by the BFC.
Caroline Rush CBE, Chief Executive at the British Fashion Council, commented: “The UK has a reputation of being the leading launchpad for innovative and creative talent mainly due to its world-leading universities for fashion education. This year’s list of designers truly showcases London’s reputation as a global capital for the creative industries, and we are delighted to be able to help so many of them through the BFC Foundation. Congratulations to all the designers and a big thank you to all the funders, judges, and mentors for making the UK’s talent support network one of the most robust in the global market.”
Find out more about the Menswear MA and the Fashion Design BA Honours courses.
