NEWGEN Men announces Liam Hodges as the next designer to win their prestigious funding and support.

The British Fashion Council have just announced their NEWGEN Men recipients for AW16. The award, sponsored by Topman, gives sponsorship to up-and-coming designers for a catwalk show, a presentation or an installation, as well as providing financial support and business mentoring to help their brands develop.

This year the committee, which includes Jason Griffiths, the Marketing Director of Topman, and Sam Lobban of menswear-kings Mr Porter, have chosen Liam Hodges to join the esteemed list of designers who NEWGEN Men has already helped to change the face of British menswear. Hodges, who you may remember invited street-poet Hector Aponysus to perform during his last show for MAN, has been gaining considerable momentum in recent years for his DIY-streetwear aesthetic, so it’s no surprise he is being recognized for his talents by NEWGEN.

He will certainly be in good company, as the list of other designers currently receiving NEWGEN support reads like a who’s-who of cutting edge British talent: London Collections: Men mainstays like Agi & Sam and Astrid Andersen are up there, so are the masters of the high-end tracksuit, Cottweiler, not to mention Craig Green, whose samurai-inflected designs have found a fan in no less than Drake (when he’s in his tough guy mode rather than his dorky-dancing one). Previous designers who have benefited from the award include Christopher Shannon and the one and only J.W. Anderson – see, we weren’t kidding when we said NEWGEN support is a big deal.

To mark the occasion, NEWGEN have released a short video featuring the chosen designers throwing out rapid fire buzz-words. It’s pretty much everything you would expect from an award which fosters the famously eccentric and underground world of British design. As if we needed another reason to get excited about LC:M next season.