Our Manifesto

The Centre for Fashion Enterprise (CFE) is London’s pioneering business incubator that supports and nurtures emerging fashion design talent.

The CFE boasts a past and present roster of international designers including Erdem, Peter Pilotto, Marios Schwab, Richard Nicoll and Meadham Kirchhoff; iconic names known throughout the fashion industry for their innovation, creativity and desirability. The authority on fashion for today and tomorrow, these designers are the ones pushing boundaries and setting the international fashion agenda.

In the current economic climate it is essential for small businesses to be smarter: to think more clearly, to be better informed and ultimately to make considered judgements.  The CFE provides an experienced team on which designers can draw, to help challenge their ideas and to leverage access to high level industry intelligence. In addition, the CFE initiative provides guidance on finance and production, and introduces marketing expertise including routes to market and PR: essential for a brand’s survival.

CFE provides tailored support, where it is needed. The two year Venture Programme is the main focus of our work, and is unrivalled as a business support and investment programme.  The Venture programme is designed to support designer businesses which are established at London Fashion Week, who already have the press buzzing and have an established international customer base. The programme encompasses the key aspects involved in developing a fashion label as a business, and provides support and advice from experienced industry specialists.

The one-season Pioneer Programme supports fashion labels which have secured a London Fashion Week showcase but have less mature businesses than the Venture Designers. They are offered general business advice and introduced to business tools which will boost their confidence when devising a development strategy. The CFE regularly selects its Venture designers from the Pioneer Programme.

“We are making a positive impact in London. We understand what it takes to deliver sustainable business growth for the London Fashion Designer sector. We know how to work with creative people, how to develop survival strategies for innovative businesses and provide confidence, not only to the designers themselves, but also to buyers, the finance community, manufacturers and the wider fashion industry.  People recognise that the Centre for Fashion Enterprise really makes a difference.” Wendy Malem, Director, CFE

Click here to download our brochure: CFE Brochure