Dear Fashion Folks,

Happy New Year!

I have a little update on your discipline that I would like to share.

So, you know well by now that when you apply for your endorsement, you put together recommendation letters and up to 10 evidence in support, right? And for Fashion majors, the rules are slightly different. Allow me to recap these for you below:

1. media recognition

2. sponsorship/ support from BFC, Fashion East, the Sarabande Foundation, Centre for Fashion Enterprise, or similar in another country

3. One or more orders of order from UK or international luxury retailers and boutiques OR

4. Notable industry recognition

The name of the game here is to provide at least 2 out of these 4 types of evidence. And this blog post is on the first type, media recognition.

The immigration rules para.GTE 3.4. require "(a) at least 2 examples of recent UK or international media recognition for their individual work”

This is in sharp contrast to the requirements for other ‘art’ candidates (e.g. visual artists or musician) who are being endorsed by ACE itself. For these disciplines, applying under exceptional promise, applicants may provide media recognition "for their work as an individual or as a named member of a group or as a contributor” (GTE3.3).

Do you see the difference? In practice, it you are struggling to find a relevant article or media piece which only deals with your work and specifically names you, but you were part of a well-reviewed collaboration or a project, then you may still use that article as media recognition as long as you could provide a letter of support from the project lead confirming your contribution. For fashion design applicants, I’m afraid this is not possible. You must be mentioned by your name and your own work/ achievement (whether it was done under employment or in collaboration with someone) and must be discussed in its totality.

If you have been following my blogs from the past few years, you’ll know that Fashion Design was one of the disciplines expressly excluded from Global Talent. The BFC and the Home Office have only come to an agreement to include Fashion in July 2018. Reading between the lines, there may have been some reluctance or at least some difficulty (on the part of the ACE or the Home Office) in readily including Fashion Designers under Global Talent. When you consider that Graphic Design, Product Design and other “Design work that is not in a Visual Arts context” are still on the Ineligible Disciplines list (on the ACE website), I do sense a keenness to distinguish Fashion Design and in doing so, the entry threshold to being endorsed under this discipline is deliberately kept slightly more elevated than say Visual Arts or Architects Exceptional Promise candidates.

But it’s not all bad news for you. under media recognition, a much more generous types of evidence is allowed, including social media posts from a well known fashion house or an eminent individual within fashion (Anna Wintour? well, someone like that I guess, because she doesn't seem to have an instagram account). You could also use notable injury recognition (which in practice could basically be a recommendation letter style from an eminent person or a fashion house who has worked with you and speak highly of you) or at least 1 order of your design by a luxury retail brand or a boutique. I mean, it sounds eminently possible to me.

And of course, if you want to tap into this route and find out if you might be eligible, or if you would simply like to prepare it together, then do get in touch. I would be only too happy to assist!

The long wait is finally over for you fashion bods. The most recent of the regular Home Office statement of changes to the Immigration Rules, announced from today JUNE 2018 (HC 1154) brings the welcome news. 

Those of you who are following my blog here on Tier 1 Exceptional Talent, you might remember my post from last year (March 2017, Tier 1 Artist Visa - Is my art covered?) which lists the areas of art that the Arts Council England is prepared to assess for the purpose of UKVI's Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Endorsement. The message from the Arts Council to date (including the most recent response I received from them at the end of May 2018) has been that most areas of fashion design are expressly NOT INCLUDED to be assessed. This has turned away many a saddened - but incredibly talented - fashion designers from attempting Tier 1 Exceptional Talent while their visual arts peers triumphed. BUT NO MORE! THE OPPORTUNITY for fashion designers is NOW WIDE OPEN folks!

Just to explain the changes, Appendix L of the Immigration Rules houses the relevant part of the rules on Tier 1 Exceptional Talent/ Promise which, following the change, should now say this: 

"5. The applicant must either: 

(a) be established (if applying under the Exceptional Talent criteria) as, or demonstrate potential (if applying under the Exceptional Promise criteria) to become, a leading artist or an internationally recognised expert within the fields of arts and culture, encompassing dance, music, theatre, combined arts, literature and visual arts (including museums and galleries), as assessed by Arts Council England; or

(b) be established as a leading artist or an internationally-recognised expert within the film, television, animation, post-production and visual effects industry, as assessed by the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT); or

(c) be established (if applying under the Exceptional Talent criteria) as, or demonstrate potential (if applying under the Exception Promise criteria) to become, an internationally recognised expert in their field within the fashion industry through the operation of leading designer fashion businesses (encompassing relevant technical), as assessed by the British Fashion Council.”

So, this means that in terms of allocation of endorsement places, Arts Council will still be the umbrella endorsement body for both PACT and the British Fashion Council and they will hold min. 250 allocations for each year (to be used by Arts Council, PACT, and the British Fashion Council), plus a further number if Arts Council (or PACT or BFC) runs out of its allocation. (N.B. Just beware that at the time of writing, the policy guidance on Tier 1 exceptional talent v. 1/2018 and Appendix L have yet to be updated with the new changes but we should see an updated policy guidance and to the rules in the coming days).

You might guess from my overall tone, I am SUPER excited to share this with you and I would totally encourage those with a good track record of international exposure, vision, and eminent referees to start preparing your first application! Of course, I am here to help you through the preparation and the ultimate application - just get in touch. I will always be excited to hear from you! It couldn't have come at a better time to coincide with the release of the documentary, 'McQueen' I feel. Almost poetic.