WGSN Global Fashion Awards reveals 2015 shortlist

British names including Sophia Webster, Hannah Weiland of Shrimps, and Christopher Shannon, as well as UK retailers Karen Millen, Jigsaw and Debenhams have all been shortlisted at the 2015 WGSN Global Fashion Awards.

The awards, which honour “inspirational and innovative individuals and businesses” who are pushing the boundaries on a global scale, span across 19 fashion design, buying and retail categories, with nominees for Breakthrough Talent, Design & Buying Innovation and Retail & Digital Innovation announced by model Amber Le Bon at The Park Lane Hotel in London.

London Fashion Week favourite Sophia Webster is nominated for Breakthrough Footwear & Accessories Designer, up against tough competition from British fluffy accessories designer Charlotte Simone, Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavriel from Mansur Gavriel and Hong Kong designer Yaling Liu from Liuliushoes.

British designer Hannah Weiland of Shrimps is nominated alongside Brazilian Barbara Casasola, Australian Celeste Tesoriero and Russian designer Olga Vilshenko of Vilshenko for the Catrice Cosmetics Breakthrough Womenswear Designer award, while British-based designers Christopher Shannon, Agi & Sam and Serdar Uzuntas dominate proceedings for the Breakthrough Menswear Designer award, up against Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy.

The final category for breakthrough talent is Emerging Brand, which is an all British-based affair with Liam Hodges nominated alongside Faustine Steinmetz, Lily Kamper, and Marques'Almeida.

WGSN Global Fashion Awards unveils international shortlist

Nominations for retailers include Karen Millen, who recently celebrated the re-launch of its boutique network in the UK and US, will vie for Best Store against Jigsaw, Level Shoe District and Debenhams, while Farfetch, Koolfly, Joker’s Closet and Covetique are all shortlisted for Best E-Store.

Topshop is up against Primark in the Best Digital Innovation category alongside Mexican store El Palacio de Hierro and Polish Geekgoeschic.co, while Primark gets its second nomination for Best New Retail Concept in Germany against Saks Fifth Avenue, The Monki World Friedrichstrasse-Berlin, and Kate Spade’s Houston flagship.

Nominations for design and buying includes the Womenswear Design Award which sees newcomer Finery London nominated alongside Whistles, Equipment and US brand Madewell, while Menswear Designer will be fought out between Tiger of Sweden, Smith-Wykes, Lou Dalton, and Hancock. Another hotly contested award will be for Design Denim which sees Nudie Jeans up against Diesel, Kings of Indigo and AG Denim.

Other notable nominees include Matchesfashion.com shortlisted alongside Colette, S*uce and the Sanahunt Luxury Concept Store for Multi-Brand Offer; Hunter Boots takes on Adidas Originals, Gandys, and Acne Studios for the Footwear & Accessories Design; and the popular H&M x Alexander Wang has been shortlisted with Marques’ Almeida x Topshop, Gandys x Liberty London and Ruthie Davis (Heart) x John Bartlett for Designer Collaboration.

The shortlist will now be judged by a panel of experts including Michael Herz, artistic director at Diane von Furstenberg, Caroline Burstein, creative director at Browns, and Kristina Szasz, creative director of denim at Karl Lagerfeld. Winners will be announced on May 14 at a ceremony held at The Park Lane Hotel.

Previous winners at the WGSN Awards have included Christopher Bailey, Nicholas Kirkwood, Net-A-Porter.com, Erdem, Karl Lagerfeld, Topshop and Acne.