Raf Simons, Donatella Versace and Jonathan Anderson Take Top Honours at Fashion Awards

LONDON, United Kingdom — The Fashion Awards, the British Fashion Council's high-production celebration of the industry's talent and rising stars, returned to the Royal Albert Hall in grand style on Monday night. It marked the second annual ceremony since the council decided to expand the event into a global production worthy of coverage from inside and outside the industry. It also marked Dame Natalie Massenet's last hurrah as chairman of the BFC, a position from which she is stepping down at the end of the year and which was marked by a confetti-filled musical finale.

The Fashion Awards were again hosted by British comedian Jack Whitehall, joined this time by model Karlie Kloss, a clever addition to the proceedings who wore looks by each of the best designer nominees throughout the night. The venue also benefited from a new format, layout and staging for the audience of 4,000 that filled the space of Royal Albert Hall.

The Fashion Awards at Royal Albert Hall | Source: John Phillips/BFC/Getty Images for BFC

Supermodel Naomi Campbell's remembrance of Azzedine Alaïa, who passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago in Paris, was the emotional highlight of the evening. "Papa would have liked it that my sisters join me tonight," she said, and with that 13 of Alaïa's muses from different points of his career — Stephanie Seymour, Eva Herzigova, Mariacarla Boscono, Farida Khelfa, Imaan Hammam, Veronica Webb and more — joined her onstage. "Azzedine was a protector, a teacher, a seeker and defender of all that is good and positive in this world," said Campbell. "I am proud to be honouring, along with his daughters, a giant of fashion and a true master of humanity."

The evening was full of personal tributes. Dame Anna Wintour, Condé Nast Artistic Director and editor-in-chief of Vogue, presented outgoing Burberry chief creative officer Christopher Bailey with an Outstanding Contribution to British Fashion Award. And later, singer Rita Ora surprised the audience with a rousing performance of "Freedom" by George Michael in honour of Donatella Versace, the recipient of the Fashion Icon Award also presented by Campbell.

Rita Ora performs on stage during The Fashion Awards 2017.| Source: Getty Images for BFC Rita Ora performs on stage during The Fashion Awards 2017.| Source: Getty Images for BFC

Rita Ora performs | Source: Tristan Fewings/BFC/Getty Images for BFC

Jonathan Anderson, the most nominated designer of the night, took home awards for Accessories Designer of the Year for his work at Loewe, presented by Amber Valletta, and British Designer of the Year for Womenswear for his work at his namesake label, presented by Zendaya. (Back in 2015, he was the first designer to win two categories.)

The 2017 Awards saw several repeat winners in fact, including Gucci chief executive Marco Bizzarri, who was once again presented with the Business Leader award, this time by Annie Lennox. Craig Green once again won the award for British Designer of the Year for Menswear, which was presented by FKA Twigs. And Raf Simons, who won both the menswear and womenswear designer awards earlier in the year at the CFDA Awards in New York, took home Designer of Year for his work at Calvin Klein, presented by The xx's Oliver Sim.

Preannounced honourees included makeup artist Pat McGrath, who was honoured with the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator by Eva Herzigova.Bianca Jagger presented The Swarovski Award for Positive Change to Dior's Maria Grazia Chiuri. And Sir James Dyson presented the Special Recognition for Innovation to Stella McCartney.

Adwoa Aboah | Source: Jeff Spicer/BFC/Getty Images

The Fashion Awards are voted on by 2,000 members of the industry from 38 countries and serves as a fundraiser for the British Fashion Council. Last year, the event raised £700,000 (about $940,000), which supported the BFC's Education Foundation for scholarships as well as other initiatives.

The full list of winners and honorees:

Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator: Pat McGrath

The Fashion Icon Awards: Donatella Versace

Swarovski Award for Positive Change: Maria Grazia Chiuri

Special Recognition for Innovation: Stella McCartney

Outstanding Contribution to British Fashion: Christopher Bailey MBE

Designer of the Year: Raf Simons for Calvin Klein

British Designer of the Year — Womenswear: Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson

British Designer of the Year — Menswear: Craig Green for Craig Green

Accessories Designer of the Year: Jonathan Anderson for Loewe

Urban Luxe Brand: Off-White

British Emerging Talent — Menswear: Charles Jeffrey for Charles Jeffrey Loverboy