When I met the finalists of Fashion Fringe 2011 and the past winners….

Yesterday evening I was invited along by the lovely people at Fashion Fringe to meet the fashion designers who made the final of this year’s contest. Fashion Fringe is an organisation which was created 7 years ago by Founder and Creative Director, Colin McDowell. It supports fresh, new talented fashion designers by providing them with funds, studio space at the London College of Fashion, intensive mentoring and technical assistance.

To date, Fashion Fringe has helped more than 17 designers launch their career in London. Did you know Erdem is a past winner? That’s right. Winning back in 2005 played a huge part in helping his business get off the ground. Basso & Brooke is another big name & past winner. So when I was asked to come along to meet this year’s three finalists, you can imagine how excited I felt. Not only would I be looking at the best of the best but I would be given the opportunity to meet them early in their careers before hitting the big time. The designers competing for the Fashion Fringe 2011 award are Fyodor Golan, Heidi Leung and Nabil Nayal.

Firstly I met last year’s (2010) finalist, Jade Kang, who is from Seoul in Korea where he studied Fine Arts and Fashion Design before making a bold decision to leave his home country and make his way to London in 2002. It is here where he graduated with a BA in Fashion Design and Technology from the London College of Fashion. I am told he is inspired by his mother’s styles and is focused on womenswear. Looking at the dresses made it quite obvious that elegance is the key behind his designs. Elegance with a twist.

Some of Jade’s dresses:

Next I met Central Saint Martins graduate, Korean-born Eun Jeong Hong who is a past winner. Her all-white debut collection wowed the judges and earned her the top prize back in 2008. Hilary Alexander described it as: “by far the most outstanding; it had tailoring, and the soft frivolous fantasy feel as well.” Eun Jeong has turned up for six seasons during London Fashion Week.

JENA.THEO is formed by Jenny Holmes and Dimitris Theocharidis. They were inspired to collaborate by a mutual respect and admiration for each other’s styles and felt that by working together they could create a unique collection. Jenny works on voluminous and challenging pattern cutting whilst Dimitris focuses on the silhouette and delicate tailoring. The duo won Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden Award 2 years ago.

Now for this year’s finalists. Fyodor Gola is a duo combination of passion and opposites. Coming from very different parts of the world, Fyodor (from Latvia) and Golan (from Israel) learned how to explore differences rather than similarities in their design aesthetics, describing their ethos as “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.” Before launching their label FYODOR GOLAN in 2010, they worked and accumulated a wide range of skills at Alexander McQueen, Raf Simons, Issey Miyake and Richard Nicoll. They showed their debut A/W11 “Pagan Poetry” collection at Vauxhall Fashion Scout in February, before reaching the Fashion Fringe finals this year.

They are both very gentle and softly spoken. I really enjoyed talking to them. The designs of a white dress I saw (see below) was truly out of this world. The main body of the dress is, I believe, made of leather. Beautiful, beautiful. We were all in awe. Must add how I love the fact that they were wearing music band t-shirts because it’s not what you would expect from fashion designers! I like that.

The second candidate in the final is Nabil El-Nayal, the designer behind Nabil Nayal, was born in Syria in 1985 and moved to Sheffield with his mother at the age of 14. He studied at The Manchester School of Art, where he gained a First Class Honours degree in Fashion. After graduating in 2008, Nabil went on to win many prestigious fashion awards including the Royal Society of Arts Award, the GFW ‘Best Womenswear’ Award and the BFC MA Scholarship Award; enabling him to study at the Royal College of Art.

Invited by Christopher Bailey, Nabil worked as researcher reporting to the Creative Director at Burberry Prorsum and in 2009, River Island C.E.O. Richard Bradbury commissioned Nabil to create a capsule collection which sold out in just three days. Nabil was also selected by Umbro, in collaboration with the Royal College of Art, to contribute work for an exhibition in their concept store.

After seeing Nabil’s work at the Royal College of Art and meeting him at the Buckingham Palace Reception for the British Clothing Industry, David Sassoon appointed him Assistant Designer at Bellville Sassoon. Most recently, Nabil’s graduate collection has been sold in Harrods.

Nabil’s SS12 Collection for Fashion Fringe is ‘All The Riches She Deserves’ – where the female protagonist is dramatically carried to safety as her opulent mansion house burns to the ground around her at dawn.

Every element has been filtered and refined through Nabil’s fastidious, considered approach to his work. His love and passion for the Elizabethan era, Couture techniques and unexpected garment juxtapositions come together to convey the unique Nabil Nayal signature. His designs evoke a modern strength, femininity and empowerment with timeless elegance.

I have to say that Nabil comes across as a real gentleman. Confident, outgoing with a good sense of humour. He had us all laughing, and his collection left me feeling quite envious. He has some very exciting pieces.

Finally, the 3rd finalist battling for Fashion Fringe award 2011 is Heidi Leung. Heidi grew up in California where her first step towards her dream of becoming a fashion designer began with an Apprenticeship at the Edmond Chow Designer Studios in San Francisco, where she returned to work every summer until 2010 – despite moving to London in 2006, where she studied Womenswear at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design.

A seasoned intern with the British Fashion elite, Heidi completed a once-in-a-lifetime internship with Alexander McQueen in 2007 and, after graduating in 2011, followed this with an internship for Christopher Kane.

Heidi’s designs are romantic, protective, and humorous. She counts her two greatest fashion influences as Daphne Guinness and Diana Vreeland.

Here is Heidi posing for me so I could take a photo of her gorgeously stylish jacket. She told me that it took a month to make. I told her I was jealous. Can I have one please? :P

All the three designers are stars in their own right and after spending some time chatting away with each of them, and looking at their collection, I must say I am glad I am not a judge because I would simply be unable to make a decision. They are all outstanding candidates. Fortunately on the judging panel, they have people who have no trouble making bold decisions. The judges are: Anne Pitcher (Managing Director of Selfridges), Bel Jacobs (Style Editor of Metro newspaper), supermodel Claudia Schiffer, Roland Mouret and Roy Peach (London College of Fashion).

The final is on 17th September and I am looking forward to it. Fyodor Golan, Heidi Leung and Nabil Nayal will really be feeling the pressure but that’s part of the game and will soon be over. Best of luck to all of them!