Dressed for difference

London – Somerset House is hosting an exhibition of work by some of the most exciting new fashion designers from around the world.

• The exhibition features work by emerging designers from 26 countries, including Chile, India and Russia
• The theme is Local/Global, which explores how local culture can be transformed through fashion to assume a global relevance

The annual International Fashion Showcase exhibition is this year divided between 15 rooms, 13 of which are presenting work from a specific nation and another room is showing the group installation Next In Line.

The Indian exhibit has been curated as a response to the British Council’s UK-India Year of Culture to mark the cultural exchange between the two nations. The designers have celebrated India’s pastoral communities, exploring their lifestyle as inspiration for sustainability solutions within the global fashion industry.

Poland’s contribution, Waste Not, draws on the past for inspiration in challenging the industry’s reliance on mass-produced, fast fashion. The designers have mixed communist-era kitsch with a contemporary luxury aesthetic to provide resourceful solutions to the ready-made.

The show, which is a collaboration between The British Council, British Fashion Council (BFC) and Mercedes-Benz, will also include work by six emerging designers who have featured on Mercedes’ International Designer Exchange Programme (IDEP).