Meet London Fashion's NEWGEN Gang

London has a unique reputation for birthing raw creativity. Its fashion community has historically been about unbridled, original design. Its where designers come to be born. The reality is, they need help when securing longevity for their fashion dreams.

Since 1993, the NEWGEN scheme has been giving a leg-up to designers like Lee Alexander McQueen, Kim Jones, Grace Wales Bonner and Jonathan Anderson. For 2023/2024, seven names have been added to the roster, and will receive a grant, mentorship and runway/presentation show support as part of the official London Fashion Week schedule for three years.

The new line-up has been selected by the BFC NEWGEN committee led by Sarah Mower MBE, and included SHOWstudio's editor Hetty Mahlich, MACHINE-A founder Stavros Karelis, designer Roksanda Ilinčić , stylist and consultant Karen Binns and The Face's editor Matthew Whitehouse amongst others.

Announced today, the latest recipients of NEWGEN are Steve O Smith, Lueder, Karoline Vitto, Johanna Parv, Charlie Constantinou, Pauline Dujancourt and YAKU. In the spirit of London fashion, this group of designers are establishing brands with a defiant and distinct viewpoint.

London-born Steve O Smith, who recently dressed Eddie Redmayne and Hannah Bagshawe for the Met Gala, recently relaunched his namesake label. Placing a focus on his drawings, Smith offers a new language of dressmaking.

Last seen on the Milan schedule for her show supported by Dolce & Gabbana, Brazilian designer Karoline Vitto's work starts from her own body and that of her friends. Casting way beyond the exclusive sample size standard, and through sizes 10 to 24, Vitto's signature dresses with metal inserts have been developing into a fuller wardrobe complete with denim.

Fellow Fashion East graduate Johanna Parv also prioritises the lived experience of women with her activewear-inspired clothes, where skirts unzip to allow an easier, and chicer, cycle through the city, and upcyled vintage handbags double up as a backback. French designer Pauline Dujancourt, meanwhile, has made the capital a home from home, prioritising female craftsmanship with intricate crochet and lace work.

Marie Lueder's brand will make the jump from Berlin to London later this year as a result of NEWGEN, with their co-ed collections which focus on the idea of adaptable armour. Adaptable functionality is a running theme this year, which also applies to the work of Charlie Constantinou, who has enjoyed an on-going collaboration with 66 North. Completing the NEWGEN pack is Yaku Stapleton, the Central Saint Martins graduate whose Creature Shoes, an extension of his fictional character-driven world, went viral last year.