BFC announces 21 designers to receive BFC NEWGEN sponsorship

The British Fashion Council (BFC) has announced the names of 21 of London’s fashion design talents that will receive BFC NEWGEN sponsorship to show at London Fashion Week (LFW) in September 2010. NEWGEN is an internationally recognised talent identification scheme, with alumni including British designers Alexander McQueen, Matthew Williamson, Boudicca, Giles Deacon, Jonathan Saunders and more recently; Christopher Kane, Marios Schwab, Richard Nicoll, Erdem and Meadham Kirchhoff.

The recipients of NEWGEN, sponsored by Topshop are:

New accessories label Beauchamp`s has launched its new Autumn/Winter collection

Beauchamp’s is a new label, founded by designer Alex Fagan, which produces high-quality leather accessories for men and women. Many of the products are bespoke, while at the same time other lines are stocked in some of the UK’s most prestigious stores. The Autumn/Winter 2010 range is all about colour, texture, blending, lines and focus on adaptability and an edgy twist to make each belt unique. Inspiration for designs is taken from snakes, combined with flexibility for these belts to be worn in many ways, adjusted in size, customised with scarves, elastic and leathers. Colours of the collection range from the classic black, rich bronze and mahogany brown to exotic oranges, blues, reds and golds. The new collection is available to buy from Liberty’s, Katie & Joe, Rous Iland, Catherine Hooker and Farlows in London and Isabella in Ascot priced between £50.00 and £400.00.

The Music Tee launches into Selfridges

The Music Tee launched yesterday. This is a new product line that combines digital music and T-shirt fashion in one package. Each shirt comes with a unique code that can be used to download a digital copy of the album or track list associated with that Music Tee online at www.themusictee.com. Already popular in the USA, The Music Tee boasts over fifty artist collaborations including The Plasticines, Mos Def and celebrity compilations from the likes of Perez Hilton. The collection, including the Daisy Dares You Music Tee pictured here, is now on sale at Selfridges and online at www.themusictee.com. Selfridges will also be stocking The Music Tees for The Plastiscines, Devendra Banhart, Monsters of Folk, Perez Hilton and Sliimy with prices from £55.00.

PINKO announces collaboration with designer Mark Fast

PINKO has announced a new collaboration with London-based designer Mark Fast. Fast will work with PINKO for Spring/Summer 2011 and Autumn/Winter 2011 to produce a ready-to-wear collection in collaboration with the Italian brand alongside its mainline collection. Mark Fast (pictured above right) is a Canadian born knitwear designer who graduated from London’s Central Saint Martins college in 2008. Fast has a reputation for his body-conscious silhouettes and knitting techniques and has shown collections at London Fashion Week since 2008. PINKO, founded over twenty years ago by Pietro Negra (pictured above left) and Cristina Rubini, has 800 sales points around the world including flagship stores in London, Paris and Milan.

Net-a-Porter group launches dedicated menswear site

The Net-a-Porter group has announced the launch of a dedicated menswear site - MR PORTER. Open for business 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and offering the most discerning selection of men’s fashion. The new site will launch for the Spring/Summer 2011 season in January 2011 and will offer an edited product selection of the best in men’s style, from global designer labels to niche specialist brands alongside original editorial and style advice. Launch partners include Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Lanvin, YSL, Margiela, Balmain, Dunhill, Margaret Howell, Rick Owens, John Lobb and MR by Roland Mouret. MR PORTER will offer same day delivery service in London and Manhattan with express delivery to the rest of the world. www.mrporter.com

Jeans label launches search for Britain's No.1 fashion blogger

Jeans specialist ONLY is looking for the UK’s best fashion blogger to celebrate its 15th anniversary. The winner will be treated to a behind the scenes tour of ONLY, receive a selection of ONLY clothes, watch the latest photo shoot and be given the opportunity to meet bloggers from around the world. To enter this competition, download the application from www.only.com, explain the key attractions of ONLY jeans and e-mail it to: editor@bestseller.com before 21 June 2010. ONLY want to know when you bought your first pair, how many pairs you have and how you use them, style them and make the jeans yours. ONLY want to hear views on fashion and the role of jeans in fashion today, and why you choose one pair of jeans over another.

The biggest names in British fashion showing at Royal Ascot

The Royal Ascot Fashion Show returns to the Bessborough Restaurant for the five days of Royal Ascot (Tuesday 15 June – Saturday 19 June). The catwalk front-liners for this year are Vivienne Westwood, Stephen Jones, Amanda Wakeley, Matthew Williamson and the holder of three Royal Warrants Gieves & Hawkes. Vivienne Westwood is showing signature pieces from her Spring/Summer Gold Label 2010 and archive collection. Stephen Jones entertains race-geors with hats from his ABC Spring/Summer 2010 ready to wear and bespoke range. Amanda Wakeley showcases outfits from her Spring/Summer 2010 range, this includes draped gowns and togas in yellow, grey and peach, unstructured draped blazers, harem trousers, swimsuits and tulip-shaped skirts and gold sequin mini dresses. Matthew Williamson uses the Fashion Show catwalk to unveil his Spring/Summer 2010 collection of shift dresses in fine metallic tweeds encrusted with geometric jewels.