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Stella McCartney is the perfect role model for young fashion entrepreneurs, says a report by the British Fashion Council

 

 A model with a Stella McCartney creation at last year's Paris fashion week. Photograph: WireImage

 Young British designers should emulate Silicon Valley and Stella McCartney and view the launch of a fashion brand as an entrepreneurial venture – not solely a creative endeavour – according to a report published today by The British Fashion Council. Titled Commercialising Creativity – Creating a Model for Success for British Fashion Designers, the paper claims that there is a dearth of guidance available to fashion designers starting their own businesses, an anomaly in an industry that employs almost 800,000 people and makes £26bn annually.

"Our ambition is that future generations of designers will understand how to create a business plan and source investment in the same way the tech industry does," said BFC CEO Caroline Rush. Rush added that the findings would help young designers "evaluate the kind of business they want to be and the questions they should be addressing from the start."