Pierpaolo Piccioli and Wales Bonner among honourees at 2022 Fashion Awards

The British fashion world gathered on Monday night to celebrate the annual BFC Fashion Awards, hosted by Jodie Turner-Smith.

By Kati Chitrakorn

December 5, 2022

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 05: Florence Pugh and Pierpaolo Piccioli attend The Fashion Awards 2022 at the Royal Albert Hall on December 05, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)Photo: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Getty Images

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The stars were out for the 2022 Fashion Awards, which went off in London last night to an engaged, if slightly smaller than usual, audience. The red carpet opened with a live performance by singer Olivia Dean performing her hit single “Danger”; later, singer Jessie Ware performed new releases from her album What s Your Pleasure; and rapper and DJ Shygirl wore a custom outfit by Icelandic outerwear brand 66°North. And, of course, a tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II was put together by Britain’s leading brands.

Over 1,000 individuals working in the global fashion industry played a part in voting for this year’s Fashion Awards, the first under new BFC chair David Pemsel, who succeeded Stephanie Phair in September, and the sixth since the awards gala was repositioned as a global event. Pierpaolo Piccioli was named Designer of the Year for Valentino, beating out contenders including Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson and Loewe, Matthieu Blazy for Bottega Veneta and Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons for Prada. Actress Florence Pugh presented the award — fitting that she arrived as Piccioli’s guest in head-to-toe Valentino.

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By Kati Chitrakorn

Image may contain: Human, Person, Clothing, Sleeve, Apparel, and Long Sleeve

“Tonight, I feel grateful,” Piccioli, who last won the award in 2018, said in his acceptance speech at the gala on Monday night. “Creativity wins. Our value wins. This victory belongs to me as much as to everyone that works for Valentino.”

Balenciaga creative director Demna was removed as a nominee the week prior as the brand decided to no longer be present at the awards, according to the BFC. The Kering-owned luxury house has been caught up in controversy following two recent ad campaigns accused of being suggestive of child sexual abuse and pornography.

Grace Wales Bonner was recognised with the Independent British Brand Award, while Steven Stokey-Daley continued his winning streak, picking up the BFC Foundation Award for emerging design talent for his brand SS Daley, three months after scooping the LVMH Prize. Other nominees for the BFC Foundation Award were Nensi Dojaka, nominated for the second time after winning last year’s prize, Ahluwalia, Chopova Lowena and Wales Bonner.

Steven StokeyDaley was named as the recipient of the British Fashion Council Foundation Award for emerging designer talent.

This year’s awards mark a pivotal moment for the BFC, as Pemsel has been vying to boost fashion’s profile within the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which it falls under as a policy area. “A very significant part of the mandate is to ensure that we are seen alongside other power industries within the UK’s output,” he told Vogue Business in September. “We should have equal footing to all of the other industries within the UK [but] sometimes the creative industries might seem to be not quite as important as technology, manufacturing or services.”

For the 12 months to December 2022, the Fashion Awards raised over £1.3 million, of which £932,500 has supported the BFC Foundation’s talent support schemes, such as BFC NewGen, BFC/GQ Designer Fashion Fund, BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund and BFC Fashion Trust; as well as other initiatives, according to the BFC’s chief executive Caroline Rush. Over the past year, the organisation allocated £400,000 in grants to support designer partnerships and businesses.

“It’s important to understand the challenging environment in which designers and fashion businesses operate today,” says Rush. “Disruptions include the recent increase in energy, material, and manufacturing costs teamed with falling consumer confidence, causing a challenging environment for emerging brands to scale their businesses. Many young brands are also operating alone, without any support when it comes to developing their infrastructure and tasks such as accounting, inventory and e-commerce.”

Members of Burberry
s digital team were presented with the inaugural Fashion Award for Metaverse World and Gaming...

Other honorees included Burberry for the Metaverse Design Award and Katie Grand for the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator, while Jefferson Hack received the Special Recognition Award for Cultural Curation. Model of the Year was awarded to Bella Hadid, who turned heads in Paris as she closed the Coperni show with a group of scientists spraying with a liquid that instantly turned into a white dress. It was one of the most viral moments of the SS23 season, despite questions around its sustainability credentials. A month earlier, Hadid was named by Lyst as the most powerful dresser of 2022 due to her influence both on and off the runway.

And, in a sign that fashion is increasingly prioritising corporate and social responsibility, Patagonia was the unexpected winner of the outstanding achievement award, which has historically been presented to a luxury brand. Last year, Tommy Hilfiger took home the prize. The American retailer of outdoor clothing was selected for its founder Yvon Chouinard’s decision in September to donate the entire company, worth $3 billion, to fight climate change.

“If Yvon were here with us tonight, he would say good stuff, good start, but we can do better,” said Patagonia’s chief executive Ryan Gellert, who accepted the award on behalf of the brand.

See the full list of winners below: