Lulu Kennedy and Raphaelle Moore honoured as Fashion East Marks 25 years of cultivating British talent

The British Fashion Council will award Lulu Kennedy and Raphaelle Moore a Special Recognition Award at The Fashion Awards 2025, celebrating twenty-five years of Fashion East, the influential talent incubator that has shaped the trajectory of British fashion. The accolade will be presented on 1 December at London’s Royal Albert Hall, officially recognising the initiative’s cultural impact and the enduring importance of independent talent platforms.

Cultural impact

Fashion East was founded in 2000 by the Truman Brewery and Lulu Kennedy as a non-profit project designed to give emerging designers their first runway exposure without the financial and commercial pressures that typically define early careers. Born out of London’s east-end creative scene, the initiative quickly became a proving ground for designers whose work prioritised experimentation over marketability, a safe space before the realities of wholesale models, production costs, and investor expectations inevitably set in.

Over the past two decades, that ethos has produced some of the most influential designers working today. Alumni include Kim Jones, Simone Rocha, JW Anderson, Roksanda, Martine Rose, Wales Bonner, Craig Green, Maximilian Davis, Nensi Dojaka and Mowalola, among others, a list that reads like a blueprint of contemporary British design. Their early Fashion East collections often became industry touchpoints precisely because they were created outside the constraints of commercial fashion cycles.

Industry touchpoints

The British Fashion Council confirmed it will double its support for Fashion East over the next three years, recognising the financial pressures faced by incubator programmes. Such initiatives are notoriously challenging to operate: despite their cultural impact, they depend on a patchwork of sponsorship, government support, philanthropic backing and in-kind partnerships. Costs stretch from venue hire and production to mentorship, studio support and designer stipends, areas where corporate sponsorship has become harder to secure amid tightening brand budgets. Each season demands fresh funding, and maintaining long-term stability is an ongoing struggle.

Laura Weir, Chief Executive Officer of the BFC, said the expanded support reflects the initiative’s global importance. She described Fashion East as “one of the most important incubators of creative talent globally,” adding that Kennedy and Moore have consistently offered designers “an essential first step into the industry” while preserving the openness and instinctive creativity that has defined the platform from the beginning.

Kennedy and Moore welcomed the recognition, noting that the award and additional funding will strengthen their ability to nurture emerging designers. “We’re proud to have created a unique space where designers can create fearlessly,” they said, emphasising the family-like support system that underpins the programme. The Fashion Awards serve as a key fundraiser for the BFC Foundation, which supports education, talent development and business mentoring across the industry. This year’s ceremony will once again celebrate fashion’s wider cultural influence, reflecting the cross-pollination between design, music, film, sport and performance that continues to define Britain’s creative landscape.