DHL launches competition to help emerging designers go global

By

Florent Gilles

Published
Feb 10, 2014

DHL is launching a new event for promoting young international designers, in partnership with IMG Fashion Group. The competition will help winners to export their collections with runway shows on the official fashion week calendars in New York, London, Milan or Tokyo.

Dubbed "DHL Exported," the event's four winners will receive complete logistic support for the transport and delivery of their collections. This includes everything from shipping raw materials to deliveries for the runway show on D Day, a significant support for young designers that also brings them high visibility.

"DHL has been a longtime partner of fashion weeks worldwide and has continuously supported the advancement of the fashion industry," said Jarrad Clark, VP and global creative director at IMG Fashion Events and Properties. "DHL Exported stands out from other programs as it aims to help designers who are already locally notable but need that extra boost to further reach their international goals," he added.

Registration for the first edition of the annual competition runs from February 17 to April 2, with winners showing their collections for two consecutive seasons. Candidate designers in men’s wear and women’s wear who want to break into the fashion week system must indicate the name of the fashion capital they want to show in. The shows of the selected designers will be added to the spring-summer 2015 calendar starting in September 2014.

A committee of as yet unnamed industry experts will pick the winning entries on 22 April. This program is sponsored by IMG Fashion, the British Fashion Council, the Camera della Moda and Japan Fashion Week.