Just Announced - The Fashion Accelerator Brands 2026
We are pleased to announce the nine brands selected to join the Fashion Accelerator programme 2026, representing a wide array of talent from diverse backgrounds across the UK. Each participating brand brings a unique vision and displays an outstanding potential for growth, reflecting the programme’s commitment to developing future industry leaders.
The Fashion Accelerator Programme - supported by PVH Foundation and Dazed - returns for its third year in 2026. This exciting opportunity is designed to support young, creative individuals from underrepresented backgrounds who are looking to kickstart their fashion businesses or brands.
The Fashion Accelerator is a development programme, inclusive of mentorship, a spring seminar series, panels, networking, and a spot in The Innovators of Tomorrow showroom at Truman Brewery in June. It exists to inform, support and scale founders and entrepreneurs in the early stages of their career journeys, giving them a solid business foundation.
The programme will provide participants with resources, covering a comprehensive range of topics: including HR, strategy, branding, communications, digital, legal, retail and buying. They will also be connected with an expert industry mentor who will provide one-to-one support. At the end of the programme, participants will have the unique opportunity to sell their products or promote their services in the Innovator Showroom at Graduate Fashion Week 2026, which sees over 20,000 guests across four days.
The programme targets emerging fashion talent at an early career stage, across disciplines including design, photography, styling, creative direction, and more, with a focus on individuals from under-represented backgrounds.
Selected Cohort 2026:
The cohort presents an exciting group of emerging designers, photographers, stylists, and creatives that were selected by our judges to nurture their growing businesses. These individuals were selected from across the country in an effort to decentralise fashion brands and provide opportunities to candidates from all backgrounds.
London, Graduate of Arts University Bournemouth
Fashion and Wardrobe Stylist, working on editorial and commercial work. With experience in fashion production for events and fashion projects.
Callie Therese Holden – Designer
Liverpool, University of Salford Graduate
Callie Therese is a Liverpool-born alternative fashion brand blending 60s counterculture, left-wing politics, and hands-on craft with the defiant, irreverent spirit of the North.
Manchester, Graduate of Manchester Metropolitan University
Janey Cribbin is an award-winning fashion designer whose work embeds sustainability through maximalist print, texture, and upcycled fabrication using deadstock and waste materials, including discarded car interiors.
Kemi Danielle Gbadebo – Designer
Manchester, Graduate of Manchester Metropolitan University
GBADEBO is an award-winning, upcycle (re)design studio and brand, taking old, damaged or unwanted textiles and repurposing them into ready-to-wear pieces.
London, Graduate of UCA
Layal is for the whimsical and unserious. Inspired by nostalgia and absurd human experiences, the brand highlights the body through odd yet intentional silhouettes.
Mia Mazzocchi – Journalist & Founder of Storm Magazine
London, Graduate of Nottingham Trent University
Storm magazine is a platform built to disrupt the fashion industry, using storytelling to empower and inspire creatives from all stages.
London/China, University of the Arts London Graduate
Jiang’s designs hold a commitment to honest materials and intentional design, where raw silk, wool, clay, and leather echo the quiet strength of Eastern thought.
Birmingham, Graduate of Birmingham City University
An editorial and portrait photographer creating socially engaged, fashion-driven visual narratives.
Belfast, Graduate of The Glasgow School of Art
Tarika Kinney crafts the intimate, moulding tradition and modernity into art for the everyday.
The 2026 judging day was held at The Mills Fabrica, with a panel of industry judges from across design, sustainability, strategy and media. All judges were highly impressed by the creativity, and professionalism demonstrated in each presentation, making the selection process extremely competitive. In recognition of their strong concepts, innovation, and potential for growth, nine outstanding creatives were chosen for the 2026 cohort by our judging panel:
Amy Tsang, Head of Europe at The Mills Fabrica
Ana Corona, Project Manager at Dazed
Arooj Aftab, Cultural Strategist and Founder of Done With Diversity
Erica Travis: Marketing & Partnerships at Dazed
Lucinda Bounsall, Founder of Sibling Studio
Maximilian Raynor, Designer & Creative Director at Maximilian Raynor Studio
Ying Suen, Co-Founder of APOC Store
“Honestly its been incredible, everyone had prepared so well! Its so nice to be surrounded by young people who just know what they want to do.”
“Meet the accelerator programme brands, leading the future of the industry.”
During Graduate Fashion Week 2026 (15th–18th June), The Fashion Accelerator cohort will be a cornerstone of the exhibition at Truman Brewery, where they will showcase their businesses and brands to industry professionals and the public. The showroom enables the cohort to raise visibility, meet key industry members, create collaboration opportunities, and gain valuable experience in presenting their businesses professionally.
The cohort will participate in a six-part spring seminar series with experts covering buying, technology, sustainability, marketing, and press, designed to help them build responsible, impactful, and commercially viable fashion businesses. We have five confirmed seminars to take place in April & May:
‘Beyond Social: Building a Digital Ecosystem People Trust’ by Kate Greenstock, Design Director, Here I Am
‘Retail spaces and experiences’ by Joel Adebayo, Co-Founder, Not Just Another Store
‘Introduction to HR, policies you should consider’ by Holly Tonks, HR Director
‘How to make the most of the programme’ with Flavia Nis, previous Accelerator Programme member
‘Sustainability in A Global Fashion Industry’ by Sam Quashie, Journalist, with by lines in Vogue Business
Throughout the programme, they will also receive one-to-one mentorship from industry leaders such as Vikram Mennon - specialising in Finance, and Lucinda Bounsall - specialising in strategy, to guide the mentees in scaling their business and navigating the fashion landscape.
Programme Calendar 2026:
October 2025: Applications opened
January 2026: Applications closed
February 2026: Judging day at The Mills Fabrica
March 2026: Panels, networking and launch event at Mills Fabrica
April & May: Spring seminar series
May: Blackhorse lane atelier tour and Dazed studio tour
15th - 18th June 2026: The Innovators of Tomorrow showroom at GFW26
