British Fashion Council has announced Conner Ives as the winner of the 2025 BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund. With the support of the British Fashion Council, British Vogue, Burberry and Paul Smith, Conner Ives will take home a £150,000 grant and an invaluable mentorship package.
The BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund recognises exceptional talent to award designer businesses with a cash prize of £150,000 in order to support their growth and contribution to the global fashion ecosystem. This year, the shortlisted designers were Conner Ives | DI PETSA | Dilara Findikoglu | Edeline Lee | Talia Byre.
It was a tough decision for the panel — including the outgoing BFC chair Caroline Rush, incoming chair Laura Weir, British Vogue contributing fashion editor Harry Lambert, Chioma Nnadi, Laura Ingham and Julia Hobbs — to decide which designer deserved the significant investment. Finally, they picked Connor Ives, who received a grant through the BFC Foundation (Registered Charity Number: 1185152) and mentorship.
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Who Is Conner Ives?
Connor Ives
Conner Ives was born and raised in Bedford, New York. He moved to London in 2014 to attend Central Saint Martins, where he graduated from BA Fashion Womenswear in 2020. He now resides in London where he runs his design studio, as an ex-pat. His Design process is fueled by memories of childhood, inspired by the girls and women he grew up with.
The label, from its inception, has addressed how he can make smarter, responsible clothes. Nostalgia is portrayed in an almost literal sense through the use of vintage garments for raw material — most of the pieces in the collection are made from dead-stock or vintage garments. There is a feeling of responsibility to elevate the identity of re-generated items; dismissing the connotation of craft as something non-desirable. These clothes are desirable. They are responsible. They are for you!
BFC/ Vogue Designer Fashion Fund
Established in 2008, the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund celebrates exceptional talent and creativity, and empower businesses through bespoke high-level business mentoring and professional services. The Fund is part of the British Foundation, which brings all the BFC’s charitable infinitives under one umbrella, and receives the support of British Vogue, Burberry, Clearpay and Paul Smith.
Since its inception, winners of the Fund include Previous winners include Wales Bonner, Molly Goddard, Mother of Pearl and Palmer//Harding, Sophia Webster, Mary Katrantzou, Peter Pilotto, Nicholas Kirkwood, Jonathan Saunders, Christopher Kane and Erdem. In 2020 at the onset of the global pandemic, the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund was split between the shortlisted brands for the first time — Alighieri, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, David Koma, Halpern, Metier and Rejina Pyo.
Jasmeen Dugal is Associate Editor at FashionABC, contributing her insights on fashion, technology, and sustainability. She brings with herself more than two decades of editorial experience, working for national newspapers and luxury magazines in India.
Jasmeen Dugal has worked with exchange4media as a senior writer contributing articles on the country’s advertising and marketing movements, and then with Condenast India as Net Editor where she helmed Vogue India’s official website in terms of design, layout and daily content. Besides this, she is also an entrepreneur running her own luxury portal, Explosivefashion, which highlights the latest in luxury fashion and hospitality.
