The Duchess of Cambridge and Countess of Wessex will host a Buckingham Palace reception to celebrate and showcase a new fashion initiative.

On behalf of the Queen, Kate and Sophie will host the event for the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange, an initiative which uses fashion as a common language and platform to help people understand the modern Commonwealth in a different way.

The exchange aims to create partnerships between established and emerging talent from across the 53 member countries, in the lead up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London this April.

It will celebrate creativity, sustainable production and manufacturing, trade links and ethical supply chains across the fashion industry, from business and design to textile and fabric design and manufacturing.

Over the past six months, major fashion designers such as Stella McCartney, Karen Walker and Bibi Russell have partnered with artisan producers in small nations who exemplify traditional handcraft techniques and trades, with a view to creating a skills exchange.

The palace reception will showcase the best of Commonwealth contemporary fashion and creativity with an exhibition of some of the bespoke fashion looks which are the result of these exchanges.

Among the guests will be influential people from across the global fashion industry, including designers, manufacturers, textile producers, and craftspeople.