Asos to net US young talent

Etailer Asos is sponsoring a New York Fashion Week event for up-and-coming UK designers to help it raise its profile and secure exclusive US labels for its website.

Profile, the London-based exhibition for design talent in the UK, will make its Stateside debut during New York Fashion Week on September 10-11 at the Prince George Ballroom and will be sponsored by Asos.

New York Profile will take 35 emerging UK designers to the Big Apple to help raise their profile internationally.

Menswear labels Emmy Collins and Nico Kubisch, womenswear labels Honor Gold and Catharina Eden and accessories label Ruthi Orlin are among the labels set to feature in the show.

In turn, Asos is looking to pluck a number of US designers from the Nolcha show, a US design exhibition which will run in conjunction with the New York edition of Profile.
The decision to sponsor the event is the brainchild of new Asos buying director Caren Downie, who joined the etail giant from Topshop two months ago. She said: "Supporting
and nurturing design talent has always been close to my heart. It is about sharing new design talent."

Downie, along with Asos head of design Sarah Wilkinson and Jenny Holloway, director of  Profile, selected the 35 UK designers from an entry pool of 138.