Fashion East reveals line-up for London Fashion Week

Designer incubator Fashion East has revealed its five-strong line up for London Fashion Week, welcoming two new designers to the fold.

Matty Bovan, ASAI and Supriya Lele all return for the catwalk event, which takes place at the Topshop showspace on Saturday 16 September while two new designers, Charlotte Knowles and Harry Evans, will debut their collections at a new standalone presentation.

Charlotte Knowles completed her MA in Womenswear Fashion Design at Central Saint Martins in February of this year and since graduating has worked closely with Shayne Oliver at Helmut Lang in New York. She will be presenting her underwear-inspired collection, which is strongly influenced by women’s empowerment through their sexuality.

Harry Evans graduated with a Masters from Central Saint Martins in 2016 specialising in men’s knitwear, where he received the Chloé award and the L’Oréal Professionnel Creative Award for his final collection. While studying Evans worked closely with Meadham Kirchhoff and since graduating worked at Céline for a year before launching his brand. His new collection will show a move back into womenswear.

Fashion East founder and director Lulu Kennedy MBE explained the new format: “While there is this much incredible talent coming out of London we wanted to show them off, both on our partner Topshop’s epic runway, and also in an intimate static situation for the new designers. It’s a huge pleasure working with each individual and watching their collections come to life, they are the reason we do what we do, and to see a collective of young people this powerful doing their thing is an inspiration."

Designers are selected for Fashion East by Kennedy together with the organisation’s industry panel, and each receive a bespoke programme of support and expertise in addition to London Fashion Week showcasing from financial sponsorship to business mentoring and inclusion in a leading Paris sales showroom.

Alumni of the scheme include JW Anderson, Craig Green, Simone Rocha, Marques’Almeida, Roksanda Ilincic, Jonathan Saunders, Ashley Williams, Wales Bonner, Gareth Pugh, Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY, Claire Barrow, Kim Jones (Louis Vuitton) and more.