Mary Katrantzou wins 2015 BFC Fashion Fund

The British Fashion Council last night announced the winner of the grant.

Mary Katrantzou has been awarded the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund.

The award will provide Katrantzou with a £200,000 grant in addition to business support and mentoring over the next 12 months.

Katrantzou, also known as the queen of prints, beat off competition for the award from fellow London based design talents Emilia Wickstead, Holly Fulton, Michael van der Ham, Mother of Pearl, Osman and Sophia Webster who were all shortlisted for the prize.

"Mary Katrantzou is incredibly deserving of this year’s award. It was an extremely diverse shortlist but ultimately we all agreed that Mary has not only created a strong and hugely appealing identity for her work but that she has put in place measures that, along with the support of this prize, should ensure an exciting and successful next stage of her career" commented Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue and chair of the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund.

Katrantzou joins the ranks of previous Fashion Fund winners which include Peter Pilotto, Nicholas Kirkwood, Jonathan Saunders, Christopher Kane and Erdem.

This year the BFC has created an online video series which follows the process of the awards from initial application to judging of the awards.

Katrantzou revealed her plans for the money, telling The Telegraph:

"We need support financially to open our first shop in London, to tighten up our operations in terms of how we develop and build a product, and to hire more people."

Greek-born designer Katrantzou launched her label in 2008 and quickly built a reputation for her innovative use of textiles and digital prints.