British Fashion Council and Royal Academy Schools reveal collaboration

The British Fashion Council and the Royal Academy Schools have announced the new Fashion Arts Commissions project which will match up and coming talent in fashion and visual arts to collaborate on projects across art forms.

Fashion Arts Commissions will match fashion designers on the NEWGEN and NEWGEN MEN schemes with graduates from the RA Schools, who will create art works that will form part of an auction by Christie's.

The pieces will be on display from 31 October – 11 November at Christie’s King Street gallery in London and will then be part of an online auction from 22 November – 1 December with proceeds going to the BFC Fashion Arts Foundation, which is one of its registered charities.

Pairings include: menswear design duo Agi & Sam and fine art graduate Joe Frazer; men's and womenswear designer Alex Mullins and visual artist Amy Petra Woodward; men's footwear designer Diego Vanessabara and sculptor Victoria Adam; and print designer Kit Neale and sculptor and installation artist Jonathan Trayte.

British Fashion Council CEO Caroline Rush MBE said of the project: "Cross-cultural partnerships help push innovation and creativity and having the fashion and art industries working together allows the participants to share knowledge and practices. The Fashion Art Commissions project at its heart is about creating inspiring and educational content as well as generating funds for future artists and designers."

Paola Saracino Fendi, Head of Online Auction, Post-War & Contemporary Art Department, Christie’s London said the "vibrant dialogue" created by the artists and designers was inspirational, adding: "Our vision for digital at Christie’s is to put together a selection of artworks that establish a visual conversation with contemporary art and I am thrilled that these emerging young talents have chosen to showcase their new works in the context of our upcoming online auction. The title of the exhibition and auction ‘Portfolio’ was chosen to highlight the strength of this incredibly diverse selection – it reads like a sketchbook of ideas and I hope viewers find it as forward-thinking and exciting as I do."