This past Wednesday saw the culmination of what was possibly the most hyped year for the British Fashion Council and London Fashion Week. As a part of the 25th anniversary celebrations, the Council spared no expense at making this year’s awards ceremony exceptional. Hosted by DJ and presenter Lauren Laverne, this year’s ceremony drew a crowd of fashion-folk and tastemakers to witness the celebrations; Victoria Beckham, Claudia Schiffer, Jerry Hall, and Erin O’Connor were among the distinguished guests of the evening.
As for the winners, there were a number of categories up in the air while others were locked in stone. Christopher Bailey, who received his MBE from the Queen last week, was awarded the prestigious Designer of the Year award, and announced that Burberry, winner of Designer Brand of the Year, would be showing in London once again this February.
Despite causing a twitter-storm when she fell though the stage, Karen Elson (who fortunately only suffered a sprained thumb) presented the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator to Grace Coddington, Creative Director of US Vogue and breakout star of this year. Coddington humbly accepted, but pointed out that she didn’t feel she necessarily deserved the award – somewhat understandable as she has been doing the same job for 20 years, but this year happened to be recognized because of her staring role in ‘The September Issue’.
It wasn’t all about the old brands and big editors though; Holly Fulton and Peter Pilotto won the Swarovski’s Emerging Talent Awards for accessories and ready-to-wear, respectively. The Model of the Year category had some heat behind it because all three nominees have had a very good twelve months, but rock-spawn and Vogue UK cover girl Georgia May Jagger picked up the award, beating out fellow models Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Daisy Lowe. Fan-favorite accessories designer Katie Hillier was recognized along with Kim Jones for Dunhill on the menswear front.
John Galliano, absent from the nights festivities, won the Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Design, but his award was graciously accepted by London 25 award winner Kate Moss. The public voted the winner of the London 25 award, and it comes as no shock that Moss was crowned the victor.
Lastly, nominee Daisy Lowe awarded one of the bigger awards of the night, the BFC British Collection of the Year, to London it-boy and Topshop collaborator Christopher Kane.
Images courtesy of the Fashion Spot forums.
