The British Fashion Council today announces Christopher Shannon as the winner of the inaugural BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund supported by Vertu. The Fund was established in September 2013 following the success of the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund and provides one designer with £150,000 grant to provide necessary infrastructure to take them to the next stage of their business and £50,000 value in kind services, including a bespoke, high level mentoring support programme over a twelve month period.
Massimiliano Pogliani, CEO of Vertu commented: “It has been a privilege for Vertu to mentor the five shortlisted designers. What we at Vertu were looking for was the willingness to always go the extra mile, the ambition to develop the business and the brand at the same time, and the enthusiasm to keep on learning. With Christopher, this was clear from the start. He demonstrated the vision and focus to build what I believe could be a global presence. Christopher has all the potential to build a very solid and distinctive brand and I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of him.”