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Supreme, Rihanna Among Nominees for the British Fashion Council's 2017 Fashion Awards

The event will raise funds for the BFC’s education foundation, which supports emerging talent.
Nadja Swarovski, Dame Natalie Massenet and Caroline Rush at the 2016 Fashion Awards in London | Source: Courtesy
By
  • Grace Cook

LONDON, United Kingdom — Rejina Pyo, Off-White and Christopher Kane are among the 35 designers nominated for the The Fashion Awards 2017, set to be held on December 4 at the Royal Albert Hall by the British Fashion Council (BFC), in partnership with Swarovski.

Votes were cast by 2,000 members of the fashion industry across disciplines that include media, retail, communications and photography, with the voting body covering 38 countries.

"We are delighted to announce the nominees for the 2017 Fashion Awards," says Nadja Swarovski, member of the Swarovski executive board and principal sponsor of the awards. "These fantastic talents are the very best of the global industry... Young designers are the heartbeat of our business, and it is up to all of us to foster and champion their vision."

In 2016, The Fashion Awards underwent a rebrand, losing the “British” from its title in a bid to make the awards more international.

Jonathan Anderson is the most nominated designer this year, shortlisted for awards across four categories that include Designer of the Year (open to designers from any country), British Designer of the Year for both menswear and womenswear, and Accessories Designer of the Year. In 2015, Anderson won both the menswear and womenswear awards, becoming the first designer to ever win across the two categories.

Other designers nominated won their categories last year, including Craig Green (winner of the 2016 British Designer of the Year — Menswear award), Vetements (winner of the Urban Luxe Brand award in 2016) and Marco Bizzarri for Gucci (Business Leader of the Year). Surprise newcomers to the list include Fenty Puma by Rihanna and Supreme, both receiving nominations in the Urban Luxe Brand category — the first time a streetwear label has ever been touted for an award. MatchesFashion's Tom and Ruth Chapman also received a nomination for Business Leader of the Year, following the September 2017 sale of their company, now valued at $1 billion, to private equity firm Apax Partners.

The Fashion Awards is a key fundraiser for the BFC’s education foundation. Last year, the event raised £700,000 (about $920,000 at current exchange), of which £300,000 ($400,000) was used to support young British talent through scholarships. The remaining funds were allocated to Newgen, the scheme pioneered by the BFC in 1993 to nurture and support emerging talent by offering new designers mentoring as well as a platform to show at London Fashion Week. In the last academic year, the programme awarded over £100,000 ($130,000) across 12 BA and MA scholarships. The BFC will look to broaden the variety of scholarships available in the year ahead. This year, Swarovski has pledged £300,000 to the BFC’s education programme in advance of the fundraiser.

"Last year's awards marked a landmark moment for the education foundation, it has been fantastic to see our industry reaffirm its support with such generosity," says Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council. Dame Natalie Massenet, chairman of the BFC, adds: "Last year we set the goal of raising £10 million ($13.2 million) over the next 10 years to educate talented young people — Swarovski and the BFC share the goal to promote, support and educate young talent." The event last year raised the most funds for the education foundation since its inception in 1997.

Full list of nominees and honorees:

Designer of the Year: Alessandro Michele for Gucci; Jonathan Anderson for Loewe; Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior; Phoebe Philo for Céline; Raf Simons for Calvin Klein

British Designer of the Year — Womenswear: Christopher Kane for Christopher Kane; Erdem Moralioglu for Erdem; Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson; Roksanda Ilincic for Roksanda; Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen

British Designer of the Year — Menswear: Christopher Bailey for Burberry; Craig Green for Craig Green; Grace Wales Bonner for Wales Bonner; Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson; Martine Rose for Martine Rose

Accessories Designer of the Year: Alessandro Michele for Gucci; Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent; Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga; Jonathan Anderson for Loewe; Stuart Vevers for Coach

Urban Luxe Brand: Fenty Puma by Rihanna; Gosha Rubchinskiy; Off-White; Supreme; Vetements

British Emerging Talent — Menswear: Ben Cottrell and Matthew Dainty for Cottweiler; Charles Jeffrey for Charles Jeffrey Loverboy; Henry Holland for House of Holland; Phoebe English for Phoebe English Man; Samuel Ross for A-Cold-Wall*

British Emerging Talent — Womenswear: Faustine Steinmetz for Faustine Steinmetz; Matty Bovan for Matty Bovan; Michael Halpern for Halpern; Natalia Alaverdian for Awake; Rejina Pyo for Rejina Pyo

Business Leader: Adrian Joffe for Dover Street Market; Guram Gvasalia for Vetements; Jose Neves for Farfetch; Marco Bizzarri for Gucci; Tom and Ruth Chapman for Matchesfashion.com

Model of the Year: Adwoa Aboah; Bella Hadid; Gigi Hadid; Kaia Gerber; Winnie Harlow

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