Becoming a household name in the fashion world usually takes years and a lot of internships and work experience with big designers. The young designers who have both the talent and the determination to keep at it are the ones who manage to succeed in the business.
Discover 10 young fashion designers to watch in 2020 and beyond, who’ve shown a lot of promise and who offer a fresh take that might just become the next big thing in fashion.
Simone Rocha
Daughter of fashion designer John Rocha, Simone is slowly building her own brand. After getting her BA in fashion at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Simone Rocha made her Fashion Week debut in London in 2020. Mixing Japanese inspiration with historical influences, she’s already earned the Emerging Womenswear Designer award at the British Fashion awards.
Esteban Cortázar
Cortázar first made the list of young fashion designers to watch at the age of 17, when he became the youngest designer to show a collection at New York Fashion Week. After spending two years as the creative director of Emmanuel Ungaro, he’s building his own brand with capsule collections available on Net-a-Porter.
Ostwald Helgason
Susanne Ostwald and Ingvar Helgason have started the Ostwald Helgason brand in 2020 and are one of the design duos with the most buzz in the last decade. With modern tailoring and bold prints, their collections have made a big splash at New York Fashion Week and they’re quickly becoming one of the most important ready-to-wear indie designers.
Dion Lee
The only Australian among the young fashion designers to watch this year, Dion Lee has plenty of revolutionary ideas, and mixing fashion and technology is definitely one of his strong suits. After showing collection in London and New York, the designer continues to create buzz for his fresh take on style and willingness to innovate.
Katie Ermilio
Coming from a family with a long history in fashion, Katie Ermilio is the the great-granddaughter of the founder of Ermilio Clothiers and her grandfather was Grace Kelly’s personal clothier. The young designer paid her dues with a Vogue internship and she’s already created collections for Barney’s that show off her modern approach to elegance.
Meadham Kirchhoff
Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff combine British and French sensibilities into their brand. Starting out with menswear, the duo has moved on to create lines for Topshop and their biggest asset is a true versatility for each collection. They definitely have the fashion-forward vision needed from anyone on the young fashion designers to watch list.
Thomas Tait
Canadian-born Thomas Tait debuted his first London Fashion Week collection in 2020, the same year when he won Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize. Selected as one of the 12 finalists in the race for the LVMH Young Fashion Designer Prize in 2020, Tait shines thanks to the architectural edge of his garments and a youthful playfulness with fabrics.
Marques Almeida
The third duo on our list of young fashion designers to watch, Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida founded their own brand in 2020, after work experienced with some of the biggest brands in the world. Marques worked for Vivienne Westwood, while Almeida designed for Preen. Their street-wear sensibilities are one of the main focus points of their work.
Chris Gelinas
A Parsons School of Design graduate, the Canadian designer has plenty of experience under his belt and launched his own brand, CG, with a Spring/Summer 2020 collection. Gelinas is the winner of the 2020 MADE for Peroni Young Designer Award and he’s honed his design skills while working at Proenza Schouler, Balenciaga and Marc Jacobs.
Miuniku
Sisters Tina and Nikita Sutradhar are another duo that deserves a spot among the young fashion designers to watch. After studying at the London College of Fashion, the two designers launched their own brand and made it to the semi-finals of the 2020 H&M Design Awards. The Mumbai-based duo also won the ISKO Denim Diffusion Award in 2020.
