Mr Porter launches annual search for new global menswear talent

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Apr 26, 2021

Mr Porter’s on the search for new global design talent. The high-end online menswear retailer has launched Mr Porter Futures, a “first-of-its-kind global and comprehensive talent search” for three aspiring menswear designers.

After a year of mentoring, the three selected designers (or design duos) will have their resulting 15-piece+ ready-to-wear collection made globally available on the Mr Porter site in September 2022.

The chosen trio will be adopted by Mr Porter and a team of industry mentors to participate in a year-long design and business mentorship programme, beginning this September.

Built around Mr Porter’s 10th anniversary themes of “craftsmanship, discovery, inclusivity and community”, Futures is “open to anyone across the globe who meets the criteria*, and aims to identify and nurture new design talent from outside the fashion mainstream, breaking down the barriers to luxury fashion by drawing eligible candidates from an international pool, and selected through an initial anonymous application review process”. 

The goal is to discover “original voices, lift new talent and introduce them on a global stage”, Mr Porter added. 

The selected designers will undergo a programme of workshops and one-to-one coaching, “benefiting from access to leading mentors in the fashion industry alongside Mr Porter's in-house team of buyers, designers, and creative and marketing experts". 

Beyond the mentoring and coaching, “each designer will gain the essential marketing and retail skills required to build successful, standalone brands in an increasingly competitive marketplace, while also designing, developing and delivering their very own responsibly sourced and produced collections", through the support of Mr Porter's own-label Mr P team and consultancy Create Sustain.

The inaugural Selection Committee will include: Nicholas Daley, menswear designer; Julie Ragolia, brand consultant, stylist and Mr Porter contributor; Tatsuo Hino, director of Beams & Co and Mr Porter Style Council member; Reese Cooper, designer; Judith Tolley of the Centre for Fashion Enterprise, London College of Fashion, UAL; Olie Arnold, Mr Porter style director; and Sam Kershaw, Mr Porter buying director.

Kershaw said the Futures initiative was “born from a desire to discover and develop new talent from the global world we live in, and for the global community Mr Porter serves. 

“We have always been committed to championing a diverse mix of new and emerging designers throughout Mr Porter's decade in business, but if this year has taught us anything, it is that we have the responsibility to use our global platform to give equal opportunities to all new aspiring menswear voices, no matter their experience or background". 

He added: "[Our] anonymous application process ensures that the programme is open to everyone, including those outside of the industry mainstream. We are also proud to be shaping the future of menswear to produce high quality, responsibly sourced collections that are designed with inherent value, longevity and integrity, qualities Mr Porter prizes above all else”.
 
Applications open on 26 April and will close 6 June. Applicants must be aged 18 or older and cannot already own a registered or trademarked business with an annual turnover of over €10,000. They must be able to undertake the majority of the programme remotely.