Jonathan Anderson once again takes top title at Fashion Awards

The British Fashion Council (BFC) staged the Fashion Awards in London on Monday evening and the big winner was… once again Jonathan Anderson.

He walked away with the Designer of the Year Award as he did last year. It “recognises a British or international designer whose innovative collections have made a notable impact on the industry, defining the landscape of global fashion” and was won for his work at both his own JW Anderson label and for LVMH’s Loewe.

A number of awards had already been announced in advance — such as Tom Ford (Outstanding Achievement Award) and Moncler’s Remo Ruffini (Trailblazer Award). But new announcements on the night included the British Menswear Designer Award that went to Grace Wales Bonner and the British Womenswear Designer Award won by Simone Rocha.

British Accessories Designer of the year went to milliner Stephen Jones; the BFC Foundation Designer Award went to Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena for Chopova Lowena; the New Establishment Womenswear Award was given to Marco Capaldo for 16Arlington and the New Establishment Menswear Award to Priya Ahluwalia.

Alex Consani was named Model of the Year and A$AP Rocky Cultural Innovator. The Pandora Leader of Change Award went to Issa Rae; and the Special Recognition Award (for outstanding contribution to the fashion industry) to Nan Goldin and Gucci.

Tyler Mitchell won the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator while Special Recognition Awards went to Dame Margaret Barbour and Sophia Neophitou-Apostolou.

But the event was as much about being seen as winning. Co-hosted again by broadcaster Maya Jama and musical artist Kojey Radical, the ceremony kicked off with Chloe and Halle Bailey delivering an e xclusive performance of the Bee Gees’ To Love Somebody wearing bespoke Dilara Fındıkoğlu; Law Roach reflected on the major fashion moments from the year; Debbie Harry was on stage with a surprise performance of ‘Heart of Glass’ and ‘I Feel Love’ (in honour of Gucci and Nan Goldin’s Award for the ‘We Will Always Have London’ campaign). And to close the ceremony, Wizkid performed ‘Troubled Mind’ wearing Moncler, in celebration of Remo Ruffini.

The awards red carpet was big news too and featured plenty of Instagrammable moments. Those walking the red carpet seemed to be divided between anyone prepared to face the cold (and some to bare as much flesh as possible) and those who preferred to wrap up warmly. Braving the chill were Daisy Ridley in Miu Miu, Maya Jama in Conner Ives, Gemma Chan and Lara Stone in Self-Portrait x Christopher Kane (although Chan sensibly wore a coat before the flash bulbs popped), Bella Maclean in Emilia Wickstead, Yanan Wan in Gucci, Ellie Bamber and Paloma Faith in Prada, and more. 

The cosy club, meanwhile, included Ellie Goulding in a giant Moncler puffer, Jodie Turner-Smith in a Burberry coat, Alexa Chung in a Miu Miu coat, and Rihanna making perhaps the biggest impact in vintage Lacroix turquoise fur (which is bound to be an ongoing talking point for both positive and negative reasons), a giant matching hat and black gloves (alongside A$AP Rocky in Bottega Veneta).

But high-end labels didn’t have the red carpet to themselves and the mass-market also made an impact. Quite a few celebs wore Primark (Mylene Klaas, Roxy Horner and Anastasia Kingsnorth all wore Rita Ora for the high street chain). And Ora herself wore a custom-made suit that she co-designed with Primark, which will be available in its stores for customers to buy next year.

Meanwhile, H&M dressed model Nara Smith in a custom H&M Studio look. The dress is being made available to shop online and in-store on Tuesday morning.

 
It wasn’t all perfect though. At one point two PETA supporters stormed onto the red carpet carrying signs saying, “Feathers Are Worn by Beautiful Birds And Ugly People” to call attention to the ways birds are raised and killed for their feathers and urge the fashion world to stop their use.

The protest came just days after the BFC had said that exotic skins would no longer be allowed on the runways at London Fashion Week. With fur and wild animal skins now banned, feathers are the next big focus for animal rights activists.