Grace Wales Bonner

Winner of Emerging Menswear Designer 2015 at the British Fashion Awards, and LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers 2016, Grace Wales Bonner’s meteoric rise can only be attributed to the intelligence and brilliance of her sartorial creations. Interrogating “black male sexuality, masculine identity, and cultural experience” – Vogue, Wales Bonner presents a radical vision of fashion that moves fluidly between African culture, European tailoring and her own personal experiences. Her SS17 collection highlighted formalwear inspired by the 1930 crowning of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and was characterised by eye-catching forms that were both delicate and self-assured. Dazed calls her a “new kind of fashion warrior”, celebrating her “poetic politics” that engage consumers in a new kind of dialogue between clothing, culture and identity in the context of a globalised society. Her runway shows, which feature predominantly BME models, offer a holistic image of diversity and are a breath of fresh air in an industry much criticised for cultural appropriation and racial whitewashing. Wales Bonner is shaking up a fashion establishment which has previously been very much white, male and elite. Revolution has never looked so good.

Off-White

DJ, designer and creative consultant to Kayne West - Virgil Abloh, the creative brains behind ‘high streetwear’ brand Off-White, is a name on everyone’s lips at the moment. Off-White has rapidly become a major player on the streetwear scene, enjoying triple-digit growth each year since its launch in 2013. So why has Off-White been so successful? The answer can be found in its disruption of conventional fashion boundaries. Abloh is a designer who refuses to be categorised, insisting on breaking apart the boxes that people put him in.

The Varsity Fashion Awards 2016: Womenswear Designer Nominees

The result is a brand which excitingly straddles the urban world of streetwear and the luxury world of high fashion. In a recent interview, Abloh explained that, “in a large part streetwear is seen as cheap. What my goal has been is to add an intellectual layer to it and make it credible.” This credibility has been expressed through high quality-craftsmanship, strong design elements (Off-White’s signature diagonal stripes have become practically iconic) and the wry social commentary that accompanies the garments. Off-White’s latest SS17 collection presented shirts and coats plastered with photographs that seemed to engulf the boundaries of the clothes themselves, raising interesting questions about the relationship between media and fashion. Off-White represents the changing face of luxury in today’s market. It’s a young upstart and definitely one to watch.

Craig Green

Already a darling of the industry despite having launched his brand only five years ago, designer Craig Green has continued to deliver this year with collections that deftly juxtapose a strong sense of individualism with contrasting images of belonging and uniformity. Scouts-inspired scarves and belts were recent stylistic focal points that worked in tandem with unexpected lacing and quilting details to produce a powerful SS17 collection. What elevates Green’s designs is what Tim Blanks at The Business of Fashion, calls their “poetic and romantic” qualities, in other words, their arresting ability to capture raw emotions and intangible concepts. Practical yet also dramatic, Craig Green’s garments offer a tantalising promise of high fashion that is both grounded in use and also engaged with the intellectual and artistic values that sustain and justify the industry. Green is a bright star of menswear design; offering clothing that is technically exciting, conceptually rich and with a je ne sais quoi that declares it to be peculiarly British. Having already won the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund Prize this year, the grass is looking pretty green for “Britain’s favourite conceptualist” – Vogue