Top image: FW14 E. Tautz, courtesy of Dan Sims.

On Wednesday evening Dylan Jones announced the winner of this year’s BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund: Patrick Grant from E. Tautz. For those unfamiliar to Grant, he joined the label back in 2009 as Creative Director to help inject life into the supercentenarian icon (founded in 1867), delivering knife-sharp tailoring nuanced with typical, British-fashion eclecticism and modernity.

The Fund launched last year – a response to the investment gap present for British menswear designers, primarily – but also due to the success of its womenswear counterpart, the BFC/Vogue Fashion Fund.

And what a support package they receive: a £150,000 grant to help the business develop its infrastructure, as well as a bespoke, high-level, 12-month support programme provided by Vertu to help direct the brand with essential business expertise. A juicy package coveted by all independent, British designers.

Last year we saw Christopher Shannon win the Award. Candidates this year included E. Tautz, Christopher Raeburn – returning candidates from last year – Astrid Andersen, Matthew Miller and Sibling.

Massimilliano Pogliani, CEO of Vertu, spoke at the event on the company’s interest to carry on the collaborative sponsorship in the future, saying “the opportunity to mentor such a talented group of young British designers is both inspiring and a privilege.” He expanded further and said, “the Vertu team of mentors was impressed with the creativity and commercial ambition demonstrated by all of the designers.”

So it’s undeniably a beacon of relief for struggling designers, and an on-going incentive to keep ambition thriving. The award will help bolster E. Tautz’s national-game to a level of international, competing status. Watch this space.

Stay tuned to HERO come June for full fashion-week coverage, from London, Florence, Milan, Paris and New York.