The British Fashion Council has announced a short list of eight designers nominated for the 2011 BFC/Vogue Fashion Fund Prize. The winner, who will be chosen this spring by a panel of judges chaired by British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman, will receive £200,000 and a year of mentoring; all seven runners-up will be given a mentor as well. Two of the nominees, Richard Nicoll and Christopher Kane, have been nominated previously; last year's winner was Erdem Moralioglu.

This year's nominees are:
• Charlotte Olympia
• Christopher Kane
• E Tautz
• Jonathan Saunders
• Nicholas Kirkwood
• Osman Yousefzada
• Richard Nicoll
• Peter Pilotto

There is notable crossover between the Fashion Fund short list and the nominees for the British Fashion Awards: Charlotte Olympia designer Charlotte Dellal has also been nominated for a BFA in the category of emerging talent in accessories, while Nicholas Kirkwood has been nominated for best accessory designer and Christopher Kane for designer of the year.

Meet the Hopefuls [Vogue UK]