J.W. Anderson claimed both the Menswear Designer and Womenswear Designer of the Year awards at the British Fashion Awards last night, held at the London Coliseum. Upon taking the stage for a second time, Anderson said, “I’ve thanked my team, I’ve thanked everyone else, I want to thank everyone here, but oddly I want to thank designers past, present and future, which ultimately I get inspiration from. We live in postmodernist fashion and I’m honored to be on a stage that Karl Lagerfeld was on, who’s my biggest hero, and who makes me believe that everything is possible. Thank you everyone for voting for me.”
Having started 2015 by becoming the first black model to have a solo British Vogue cover in 12 years (and starring on the cover of i-D’s 35th anniversary issue during the summer) Jourdan Dunn took home the model of the year award, which was presented by her friend, Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing. “Thank you to the British Fashion Council, this means a lot to me, and thank you to everyone that’s continued to work with me and support me,” Dunn said, before thanking her mom and her son Riley. Dunn concluded by saying, “To begin the year with flippin’ a British Vogue cover and to end it with this is truly truly amazing. Thank you!”
The emerging designer award for menswear was claimed by Grace Wales Bonner and the womenswear award by Thomas Tait. The British Style awards were claimed by FKA Twigs, for ‘fashion innovator’ and Gwendoline Christie, for ‘red carpet ambassador.’ Erdem won establishment designer and Mary Katrantzou won new establishment designer, while Tom Ford took red carpet designer.
Karl Lagerfeld was honored with the outstanding achievement award, accepting it with a message of appreciation for young London designers. “First of all, thank you to whoever had the bad idea to give me this prize, because, you know,” he joked, before explaining that, “From Paris, London looks very different than London is for English people. London is a great inspiration and I never thought that I would get an award from the English fashion colony. So I’m very flattered, because English fashion is much more about creativity, they are not so much about business. On the continent, as you say, we have a little tendency to be very, very — I wouldn’t say commercial, but very business-conscious. I like the young creative people here in England and I think they have a lot of talent, they are daring, they are never boring and it’s quite exciting. I must say I’m very flattered to get this award, thank you everybody”.
Gucci’s Alessandro Michele accepted the international designer award with a similar message about his love for London. “I’m really pleased to receive this award in the city where my career at Gucci started in 2002 and in the country whose history and culture I have always admired,” he said, adding that, “2015 has been a wonderful year for me and this award gives me the greatest joy and it’s such a beautiful ending to this year”.
Check out the full list of awards, voted for by over 800 members of the global fashion industry, below.
Emerging Womenswear Designer: Thomas Tait
Presented by Nick Grimshaw and Rosie Huntington Whiteley
Emerging Menswear Designer: Grace Wales Bonner
Presented by Nick Grimshaw and Rosie Huntington Whiteley
Emerging Accessory Designer: Jordan Askill
Presented by Nick Grimshaw and Rosie Huntington Whiteley
Red Carpet: Tom Ford
Presented by Lucky Blue Smith, accepted on behalf of Tom Ford by Lady Gaga
Model: Jourdan Dunn
Presented by Olivier Rousteing
Outstanding Achievement: Karl Lagerfeld
Presented by Anna Wintour OBE
Creative Campaign: Burberry
Presented by Naomi Campbell
International Designer: Alessandro Michele for Gucci
Presented by Tim Blanks and Georgia May Jagger
New Establishment Designer: Mary Katrantzou
Presented by Elisa Sednaoui
Establishment Designer: Erdem
Presented by Alexa Chung
Brand: Stella McCartney
Presented by Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone
Isabella Blow Award For Fashion Creator: Nick Knight OBE
Presented by Karlie Kloss
British Style – Fashion Innovator: FKA twigs
Presented by Jefferson Hack
British Style – Red Carpet Ambassador: Gwendoline Christie
Presented by Kate Bosworth
Accessory Designer: Charlotte Olympia
Presented by Olga Kurylenko
Menswear Designer: J.W.Anderson
Presented by Orlando Bloom
Womenswear Designer: J.W.Anderson
Presented by Noomi Rapace
Credits
Text Charlotte Gush