Miuccia Prada to be honoured at The Fashion Awards

The British Fashion Council has announced that Miuccia Prada will receive the Outstanding Achievement Award at this year’s The Fashion Awards taking place on December 10 at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Following in the footsteps of Donatella Versace, Ralph Lauren, Karl Lagerfeld, Dame Anna Wintour and Manolo Blahnik, who have all been honoured with the Outstanding Achievement Award, Prada will join the line-up for her “outstanding contribution to the global fashion industry,” said the British Fashion Council in a statement.

Stephanie Phair, chairman of the British Fashion Council said: “Mrs. Prada’s intuition for the zeitgeist and her blending of multiple creative disciplines including fashion design, art and architecture since the beginning have made her a pioneering force in our industry. I am truly looking forward to celebrating Mrs. Prada’s outstanding contribution to the industry.”

Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council added: “We are thrilled to be honouring Miuccia Prada with the Outstanding Achievement Award for being an incredible design maverick and for spearheading the evolution of the Prada group from a family business to a global brand.”

Miuccia Prada has been the lead creative director and co-chief executive officer of the Italian fashion house Prada for 40 years, after taking over the family business in 1978. Under her creative direction, Prada has been transformed from a family business of small leather goods into one of fashion’s ready-to-wear powerhouses. Since its catwalk debut in 1988 it has showcased womenswear and menswear collection in more than 100 catwalk shows.

The Prada Group has evolved under her leadership to include Miu Miu, which has been described as Miuccia Prada’s “other soul”, Church’s, a leading traditional high-end men’s footwear manufacturer, Car Shoe, a footwear brand known for its iconic studded rubber sole moccasin, and Marchesi 1824, historic pastry shop, renowned for its exceptional contemporary interpretation of traditional specialties.

The Fashion Awards is the main fundraiser for the British Fashion Council, and in 2017, it raised more than 2.2 million pounds for its charities and business support initiatives and in the twelve months to March 2018 it has allocated 1.1 million pounds in grants to designer businesses to support these efforts. As title sponsor, Swarovski has pledged a 300,000 pounds donation to the BFC Education Foundation in advance of this year’s event.