The Burberry chief creative officer will chair the Fashion Fringe initiative which has helped launch the careers of some of fashion week's biggest breakout stars including Erdem, Corrie Nielsen and Fyodor Golan.

Bailey joins an illustrious Fashion Fringe chair alumni, with designers like John Galliano and Donatella Versace having taken-up the hot seat over recent years.

Bailey was appointed by the founder of fashion fringe Colin McDowell. 'I waited some time before asking Christopher to be our chair as I wanted the run up to our tenth anniversary year in 2013 to be very special.' He said, 'Christopher and Burberry will offer great inspiration to our candidates in Fashion Fringe whilst encouraging them to boldly step out and create their own vision and originality.'

Bailey will be responsible for judging, selecting and then mentoring the three Fashion Fringe finalists, and the winner of the 2012 award.

'The support, mentoring and guidance I received at the early stages of my career gave me the belief and self-confidence to explore the many wonderful opportunities that I've had,' said Bailey.

And with that, Fashion Fringe candidates suddenly just got the best fashion education they could wish for.

Read our review of Fashion Fringe autumn winter 12 shows from and Fyodor Golan