ANNOUNCEMENT| Fashion Scout AW14 Provisional Schedule

Fashion Scout are thrilled to announce our provisional schedule for the AW14 London catwalk showcase. Taking place during London Fashion Week, we are excited to showcase our selection of the most innovative and creative designers from around the world for the Autumn/Winter 2014 season. Running from Friday 14th February until Tuesday 18th February, the showcase will be hosted at our London Fashion Week home of The Freemasons’ Hall in Covent Garden.

With over 30 catwalk shows, presentations and installations over the five days, we welcome back regulars to our schedule Pam Hogg, Bernard Chandran and Pinghe. This September will also mark our third season in partnership with Mercedes Benz Kiev Fashion Days celebrating Ukrainian design talent.

Renowned for championing creative design talent, Fashion Scout have been responsible for launching a generation of designers including Peter Pillotto, Felder Felder, David Koma and Eudon Choi. Merit Award Winner Xiao Li will be showcasing on Saturday 15th February at 12.30 whilst our (still to be announced) Ones to Watch designers will be presenting on Friday 14th at 3.30pm.

For press and sales contacts, including ticket requests please visit the newly revamped schedule page on our website. 

What do you think of this season's schedule? Who are you looking forward to seeing the most? Tweet us at @FashionScout with the hashtag #FashionScout. 

By Cass Gowing, Editor @CassGowing

NEWS| i-D Magazine Interviews Xiao Li

i-D Magazine have featured and interviewed designer Xiao Li following the announcement that she is Fashion Scout's Merit Award winner for AW14. The article, hailing Xiao as a "knitwear extraordinaire", asks Xiao Li about her background as a designer, her challenges and the future of knitwear. The renowned publication also asked the designer about winning our esteemed Merit Award accolade, "I am really surprised, excited and grateful. I always wanted to have my own brand and show" Xiao answered, "I'm trying not to worry about it too much right now but I think it happened at the right moment". 

We don't think you have anything to worry about Xiao, we can't wait to present your Autumn/Winter 2014 collection during London Fashion Week in February. 

By Cass Gowing, Editor

ANNOUNCEMENT: Fashion Scout Partner With LumixGM

We're delighted to announce Panasonic, manufacturer of the Lumix G range, as sponsors for the Fashion Scout London AW14 season.

From the 14^th - 18^th of February our blog and social media teams will be using the new LumixGM1 cameras throughout Fashion Week to capture all parts of the event, from front row to backstage at our Freemason's Hall in Covent Garden.

Be it VIPs on the front row, street style in and around the venue or behind-the-scenes coverage before the shows, with the LumixGM1 we'll be well prepared to photograph and, with the camera's built-in wifi, share everything as soon as it happens for fashion lovers to continuously browse and share. We'll be getting up close and personal with our designer's collections before the shows, demonstrating the LumixGM1's discreet style and exceptional qualities within a premium camera.

The LumixGM1 is no bigger than a playing card and the perfect companion to any fashion week schedule. Available in zesty orange, a key colour trend for SS14, classic black and sleek black and silver, it's a must-have accessory for anyone with a busy fashion schedule. With its ability to take sharp images in all lighting conditions and record interviews with its stunning cinematic HD video capacity, we're all very excited to start putting the LumixGM1 to good use.

With fantastic competitions being run across Panasonic's social media channels during Fashion Week, be sure to keep up to date with all the action over the five days through their Twitter and Facebook, as well as our Twitter and by following the #fashionscout and #LumixGM hashtags. Find out more about Panasonic LuminxGM here. 

NEWS| Feature on Merit Award Winner AW14 Xiao Li

Graduating from Royal College of Art, Xiao Li is an instant stand out turning heads with an aesthetic that beautifully defies design logic. An incredible balance of the hard and the soft, the young designer’s use of pastel colours with bold structures create dream-like imagery that focuses on exaggerated proportions.

The 2013 graduate collection takes inspiration from today’s architectural spectrum and incorporates 1960s Balenciaga references. A candy coloured palette and reinvention of classic textures makes this collection one that breaks the mould on traditional knit wear design. Xiao Li’s technique speaks for her creativity with an innovative use of Spacer Fabric to combine layers of textiles. Fluffed up peplums that appear light and hold their structure like cotton candy giving volume to knit wear styles we have seen in the past. Li’s design style is hands-on, dying the fabric herself and working from her own knitting samples to create structures for a collection that is inventive yet wearable.

Xiao Li comes from a creative background honing her skills with a BA from London College of Fashion and moving on to Royal College of Art, as well as winning the Feel the Yarn competition at the 2012 Pitti Filati. It is her experimental use of innovative techniques and brave design decisions that make Xiao Li a Fashion Scout Favourite.

By Vanessa Omoregie (@vnsssaa)