British Fashion Council to relaunch fashion awards

The British Fashion Council is set to transform its annual fashion awards into a global event that “truly celebrates and cements London’s position as the world’s pre-eminent creative hub”.

Come December 5, the British Fashion Awards will be renamed The Fashion Awards, and will take place at London’s Royal Albert Hall in partnership with Swarovski, as the British Fashion Council looks to establish its own Met Ball, which has become seen as the fashion Oscars while raising money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.

The new format not only celebrates the best of British and international talent from the global fashion community, but at its core, The Fashion Awards will aim to raise “significant funds” over the next ten years for education scholarships to help the best talent attend leading fashion colleges, and will act as the annual fundraiser gala for the British Fashion Council Education Foundation charity.

British Fashion Council chairman, Dame Natalie Massenet, said: “Our aim is to make the Fashion Awards 2016 bigger and better than ever and will celebrate the global fashion industry at the beautiful and iconic London venue, the Royal Albert Hall. Nadja and her team at Swarovski have made these awards possible and we are thrilled to be working in partnership with them once again.

“As a global industry we should make a commitment to support talented people from all backgrounds to fulfil their dreams and access the best universities in the world. Over the next ten years, our ambition is to raise and invest 10 million pounds to support young people in this goal. London is seen as the capital for the most creative new talent in the world that provides talent and energy for the global fashion industry.”

British Fashion Council turning annual awards into fundraising drive

One of the major changes for the new-look award show is the venue, previously the British Fashion Council’s annual awards have taken place at the London Coliseum and the Savoy Hotel, the move to the Royal Albert Hall, one of London’s most iconic venues signals the scale of the awards, which the British Fashion Council has stated will also have a bigger public audience.

Last year the awards saw over 450 VIPs and industry heavyweights in attendance, alongside a sold out auditorium of over 2,000 guests, with attendees including Anna Wintour, David Beckham, Karl Lagerfeld, Lady Gaga, Naomi Campbell, Nick Knight, Olivier Rousteing, Samantha Cameron and Victoria Beckham. For the 2016 event in December, there are expected to be just over 3,000 attendees, with half of those seats available to purchase by the general public, starting May 3.

British Fashion Council chief executive, Caroline Rush added: “We have been developing a large scale Awards format that this year will become a celebration of British and international excellence as well as a significant fundraiser to give opportunities to talented young people.

“Our ambition for the evening is that the best of the fashion world will come together in London to recognise talent in design, creativity, business as well as those whose outstanding contribution to the industry have significant changed it for the better.”

Nadja Swarovski, member of the Swarovski Executive Board said: “Supporting emerging talent and celebrating creativity is in Swarovski’s DNA, so we are delighted to partner again with the BFC on the Fashion Awards, which are not only celebrating the most creative expression in fashion on a global scale, but also raising funds for education in fashion.

“The Royal Albert Hall is the perfect venue for this evolved event, which will truly celebrate and cement London’s position as the world’s pre-eminent creative hub, whilst giving back to the fashion industry.”

The money raised at the event for the British Fashion Council Education Foundation will “underpin work in schools, support apprenticeships and enable BA and MA students to continue their studies,” said Sarah Mower and Meribeth Parker presidents of the BFC Education Pillar and Trustees of its Education Foundation.

No confirmation on whether the actual awards given out will be changed, however, in an exclusive interview with the Business of Fashion, Rush did suggest that there would be a bigger focus on celebrating international talent as well as British brands, as well as business and sustainability.

The way the awards are decided on will not change, they will still be voted on by the British Fashion Council’s international judging panel, made up of over 800 key industry figures, from all corners of the fashion community. That is except for one award, the British Style Award, which will remain a public vote.

The Fashion Awards will take place on December 5 at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Image: British Fashion Council