Homegrown talent, global reach: that was the message at the Fashion Awards on Monday night. London may be the smallest of the four big fashion weeks — after Paris, Milan and New York — but the designers this British industry and its universities produce are sought after around the world.
Jonathan Anderson, the 41-year-old from Northern Ireland, who was announced in the industry’s top job at Christian Dior in June, was named Designer of the Year at the Royal Albert Hall, as a celeb-packed crowd including Mick Jagger, Cate Blanchett and Sharon Stone looked on. The womenswear gong went to Sarah Burton, 51, who created the Princess of Wales’s wedding dress during her time in charge at Alexander McQueen and was last year announced as the creative director of Givenchy.
Jonathan Anderson receives the designer of the year award
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Sarah Burton receives British womenswear designer of the year award, presented by Cate Blanchett
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The winner of menswear designer of the year was 35-year-old Grace Wales Bonner, who was announced in October as head of the menswear line at Hermès and has earned cult-cool status for her sell-out streetwear collaborations with the sports brand Adidas.
Rapper Dave accepts the British menswear award on behalf of Grace Wales Bonner
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A newly created Vanguard award for visionary talent went to the London-based Turkish designer Dilara Findikoglu, 35, who this year has dressed Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, Madonna and Kim Kardashian, among others. The Central Saint Martins alumna is often compared to Alexander McQueen for her technically complex and gothic-tinged corseted gowns.
Vanguard award for visionary talent: Dilara Findikoglu
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The awards this year celebrated the strengths of British fashion at a time when many businesses are finding conditions increasingly parlous. According to the British Fashion Council, the industry in the UK is estimated to support 1.3 million jobs from retail to retouching and to contribute about £60 billion to the economy. It has been hit hard in recent years by not only Covid but Brexit and President Trump’s tariffs, which have affected working visas, supply chain costs and exports.
The new CEO of the British Fashion Council Laura Weir said that this year’s event has raised over a million pounds for the BFC Foundation, more than double last year’s total.
A 50-strong list of names made up the new wave: creatives category, recognising rising stars in behind-the-scenes roles such as photography, styling, hairdressing, make-up and nail artists. The consultants Lulu Kennedy and Raphaelle Moore were celebrated for 25 years of their Fashion East incubator programme for young designers, which supported Anderson, Wales Bonner and last year’s womenswear winner, Simone Rocha, at the beginning of their careers.
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The Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo, along with Adrian Joffe and Dickon Bowden, her co-partners at London’s avant garde concept store Dover Street Market, were given the Isabella Blow award for fashion creators. DSM began in London and now has outposts in New York, Paris, Tokyo and Beijing, but remains a significant tourist draw in the capital.
London’s catwalks may once have been known for their provocative enfants terribles, but the next generation are an astute and innovative bunch who have learnt to build their brands during straitened times. In June Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, announced an increase in funding for the creative industries from £17 billion to £31 billion a year by 2035, describing them as “powerful economic drivers”.
“There are reports hot British talent has been identified across the world,” said the actress Celia Imrie, appearing on stage in a Gieves & Hawkes copy of a historic cloak worn by Elizabeth II. “British fashion has always been at the forefront,” added the actor and host Colman Domingo.
Celia Imrie in Gieves & Hawkes
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Colman Domingo
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Delphine Arnault, the chief executive of Christian Dior and daughter of the LVMH boss Bernard, received a special recognition award for her support of British talent such as Anderson and Burton within the luxury conglomerate’s stable of brands. A similar prize went to Chanel for its recent championing of the English National Ballet, which performed at the new V&A East Storehouse this summer as part of the house’s celebration of a century of selling in the UK.
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The New Zealand-born costume designer Kate Hawley became the first to be honoured in another new category that celebrated the dark and romantic looks she created for Guillermo del Toro’s recent adaptation of Frankenstein.
The American Anok Yai was announced as model of the year and the cultural innovator award went to the London rapper Little Simz.
Model of the year: Anok Yai in Dilara Findikoglu
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Cultural innovator award: Little Simz in Tolu Coker
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The best of the red (navy blue) carpet
Kylie Minogue in JW Anderson
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Jodie Comer
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Billie Piper in Dolce & Gabbana
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Sharon Stone in Brunello Cucinelli
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Dina Asher-Smith
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Cate Blanchett in Givenchy
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Lila Moss in 16Arlington
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Sienna Miller in Givenchy
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Ashley Graham
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Ellie Goulding
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Marisa Abela
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Georgia May Jagger
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Adot Gak in Nadine Merabi
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Daphne Guinness
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Iman and Harris Reed
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Erdem Moralioglu and Kristen Mcmenamy
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Erin O’Connor
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Alexa Chung in Chloe
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Lily Allen in Valentino
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Gwendoline Christie
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