The British Fashion Council (BFC) announced today Samuel Ross, Creative Director of A-COLD-WALL* as the winner of the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund supported by JD.COM, INC. The announcement was made at a cocktail reception hosted by Dylan Jones, Caroline Rush and Kim Jones at Annabel’s, London.
The BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund supported by JD.com Inc will award Samuel Ross of A-COLD-WALL* a £150,000 cash prize and 12 months high-level mentoring to accelerate his business and growth and global reputation. China’s largest retailer JD.com Inc. generously supports the BFC/GQ Menswear Fund as part of a two-year sponsorship deal that was announced in September 2018. The fund is the UK’s biggest menswear prize for emerging talent.
COTTWEILER, Edward Crutchley, Liam Hodges and WALES BONNER were shortlisted for the 2019 prize and participated in a mentoring programme where both industry experts and judging committee members provided guidance on topics including, strategic planning, branding, leadership, commercial retail, e-tail and wholesale and digital innovation.
Dylan Jones OBE, Editor of British GQ and BFC Chair of Menswear commented, “I would like to congratulate Samuel Ross of a A-COLD-WALL*. He demonstrated intelligent design and business acumen during the judging process that propelled him to top of the talent pool and it was a unanimous decision from the judging panel. I look forward to seeing Samuel’s business grow and become the next big international menswear brand.”
Kim Jones, Artistic Director, Dior Men commented, “Congratulations to Sam who I’m sure will become a huge global brand, a British home-grown talent with a global view.”
Caroline Rush CBE, Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council commented, “The judging committee was impressed with the quality of work, thought process and determination of the talented 2019 shortlist. Each designer has a bright future ahead of them. There can only be one winner and Samuel proved to be the strongest candidate with the most comprehensive business strategy and decisive plans on how to use the fund to his best advantage to propel and cement A-COLD-WALL* on the global stage.”
Chaired by Dylan Jones OBE, BFC Menswear Chair and Editor of British GQ, the judging committee is made up of leading industry experts: Alison Lomax, Google; Andrew Maag, dunhill; Ben Banks, Four Marketing; Bosse Myhr, Selfridges; Caroline Rush CBE, British Fashion Council; James Hebbert, Hylink, Kevin Jiang, JD.COM, INC. Kim Jones, Dior Men; Stephen Doig, The Telegraph and Teo Van den Broeke, British GQ. Previous winners include Craig Green, E. Tautz and Christopher Shannon.
Kevin Jiang, President of International Business at JD Fashion and Lifestyle commented, “It is an honour to support the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund. It is an incredible opportunity for an emerging designer in the UK to take that next step and set the right foundations for an international business. We look forward to working with Samuel over the next 12 months through the mentoring programme in which we plan to share our expertise on the Chinese market and assist him in expanding the brand into its next stages.”
The BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund supported by JD.COM, INC. is part of the BFC’s business support initiatives aimed at supporting British designers and businesses from school level to emerging talent and future fashion start-ups through to new establishment and global brands.
The 2019 BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund winner will receive a print by fashion artist David Downton.
Guests enjoyed refreshments by CÎROC Vodka.
Sheridans and Lloyds generously support the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund through pro-bono services.