The British Fashion Council’s newly rebranded The Fashion Awards crowned
designers Simone Rocha and Craig Green as British Womenswear and Menswear
Designers of the year at a star-studded award show held at the Royal Albert
Hall in London.
The event was attended by 4,000 members of the industry and the public,
with notable attendees including Anna Wintour, David Beckham, Gigi Hadid,
Kate Beckinsale, Kate Moss, Lady Gaga, and Tom Ford, to mark the award’s
largest ever ceremony.
The awards were repositioned earlier this year with the aim of cementing
London’s position as the “world’s pre-eminent creative hub”. They didn’t
just celebrate the best of British and international fashion talent, but
also acted as the inaugural annual fundraiser gala for the British Fashion
Council Education Foundation charity, which offers scholarships to talented
young people to study BAs and MAs. The British Fashion Council aims to
raise 10 million pounds over the next ten years for the charity.
There were surprising wins for the top two British design categories
with Simone Rocha scooping the British Womenswear Designer accolade against
tough competition from J.W. Anderson, who was actually nominated for four
awards, Christopher Kane, Roksanda Ilincic and Alexander McQueen’s Sarah
Burton.
While the British Menswear Designer award, presented by Lady Gaga, went
to Craig Green, who was nominated alongside Anderson, Grace Wales Bonner,
Tom Ford and Vivienne Westwood.
A photo posted by XYT – Fashion Child (@styled_by_xyt) on Dec 5, 2016 at 6:14pm PST
Craig Green and Simone Rocha win top honours at The Fashion Awards
The two other British categories, British Emerging Talent was awarded to
Molly Goddard, who has become a favourite on the London scene for her
oversized tulle dresses, while Alexander McQueen was crowned British Brand
of the year, in a tough category featuring nominees Burberry, Christopher
Kane, Erdem and Stella McCartney.The new international focus of the new awards saw Italian fashion house
Gucci scoop two honours, Alessandro Michele was named International
Accessories Designer, while the brand’s president and chief executive Marco
Bizzari was presented with the International Business Leader accolade.Paris-based Vetements was crowned International Urban Luxury Brand,
while Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga was named International Ready-to-Wear
Designer.A trio of influential fashion names were also celebrated for their
contribution to the industry, was presented with the highest
honour Outstanding Achievement in Fashion, while
was presented with the Isabella Blow Award for
Fashion Creator, and Italian Vogue editor-in-chief was
awarded the Swarovski Award for Positive Change in recognition of her
“commitment to diversity and for using her position and influence to
positively impact the wider world”.There was also a Special Recognition award Celebrating 100 years of
British Vogue, presented by Mario Testino, and Gigi Hadid beat her sister
Bella to take the international model award, and Jaden and Willow Smith
were named New Fashion Icons.The award show also saw honoured for the
important work photographers, stylists, make-up artists, set designers and
agents do behind the scenes of the fashion industry, they included
photographers Alasdair McLellan, Nick Knight and Mario Testino, make-up
artist Charlotte Tilbury, stylist Edward Enninful and hairdresser Sam
McKnight.Image: courtesy of the British Fashion Council/Fashion Awards