Debenhams Group — formerly Boohoo Group — has announced its headline sponsorship of Graduate Fashion Week 2025 (GFW), building on the Debenhams brand’s long-standing partnership with the Graduate Fashion Foundation (GFF).
The company said the move reflects its “heritage in championing British designers and its ongoing commitment to nurturing the next generation of home-grown talent”.
The deal comes with the chance for young creatives to win an in-house contract at Debenhams Group by entering the ‘Debenhams Catwalk to Collection’ Award.
The company, which owns Karen Millen, MAN, PrettyLittleThing, Coast, Oasis and Warehouse, as well as Debenhams and Boohoo, will sponsor the event that takes place from 13-16 June.
The fashion week is hosted by the charitable foundation and over the past 33 years, more than 100,000 students have been supported by the charity, with designers benefiting having included Stella McCartney, Giles Deacon and Julien MacDonald.
The company has worked with GFF since 2016, supporting nearly 30,000 aspiring fashion creatives and this is its sixth year as GFW’s sponsor.
The ‘Catwalk to Collection’ Award will see 20 shortlisted designers taking part in the Debenhams Catwalk Show, which will be hosted on the opening night of GFW. The show will be curated by the Debenhams team, with a focus on commercial collections produced by graduate designers at British universities that are members of GFF.
Last year saw Eleanor McMahon from The Manchester Fashion Institute as overall winner. But the judges were also impressed by the designs of Sonny Matthews and Ivy Chow, and all three were given a year-long contract. Their collections will go on sale this summer.
