Raising your awareness of Fashion Awareness Direct

Tonight’s FAD Charity show caps the end of an exciting A/W ’09 fashion week at Vauxhall Fashion Scout. Fashion Awareness Direct (FAD), now in their 8th year, has given 14 aspiring fashion students the chance to compete for a £2,000 prize and top industry placement. The designers were asked to explore ideas of retrofuturism and space tourism in this year’s theme of ‘Urban Holographic.’ An esteemed panel of judges will decide the winner at tonight’s 7:30pm show.

Although FAD and Vauxhall Fashion Scout are taking center stage with the designers tonight, there are others at hand who have aided the development of FAD. One of those organizations is City Fringe Partnership (CFP). CFP supports designers, manufactures, wholesalers and retailers within London’s and creates links to enable businesses to meet the fast turnaround, short-run, and design-led demand of London and the export market. CFP commissioned FAD to join its ‘FashionAble’ programme to work with local students to show how the fashion industry can be a viable route to employment. Leigh McDevitt the Fashion Manager at City Fringe Partnership says, “CFP has always been impressed by the way that FAD sparks such enthusiasm and commitment from the students. With involvement of the industry and prestigious education institutions, FAD raises student aspirations about careers in fashion.”

Another partner with City Fringe Partnership and Fashion Awareness Direct is the London Development Agency (LDA). LDA provided £2 Million in funding to CFP in 2007 to support their fashion endeavors. LDA also supports the British Fashion Council to ensure London retains and grows its place in the international fashion market. In a recent article, LDA Chief Executive, Peter Rogers, expressed the necessity of investing in London’s fashion market as the effects of doing so are felt across many sectors from retail to tourism. Lisa Tumbarello