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The Fashion Awards, the British Fashion Council’s annual ceremony recognising global talent, has been reconsidered to reflect the social-distancing era, as well as the systemic and social changes that are shaking up the industry.
On Thursday, the BFC announced that 20 industry leaders would be celebrated for their work during the pandemic. But this year, there are only four categories — Community, People, Environment and Creativity — with several individuals recognised under each moniker. The council is releasing a 30-minute film spotlighting the honourees that will also serve as a time capsule for the year, available to view on Fashionawards.com.
Loewe and JW Anderson-designer Jonathan Anderson, Grace Wales Bonner, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, Kim Jones, as well as Riccardo Tisci and his employer, Burberry, were recognised for their creative contributions. Anderson, whose “show in a box” was arguably the best-received, and most inventive, pandemic-era collection presentation. The collection of tchotchkes and crafts — including a roll of wallpaper, created in collaboration with the British artist Anthea Hamilton — allowed recipients to interact with Anderson’s ideas beyond simply looking at flat portraits of clothes.
“When you make something, it can reward you because you learn through the process of it. You learn the mistakes. By doing that, we gain headspace,” he said Thursday on stage at VOICES, BoF’s annual gathering for big thinkers, in conversation Hamilton and BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks. “Fashion, in the next while, has a lot of thinking to do in how we gain headspace with product.”
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In the People category, Aurora James, Edward Enninful, the Black Fashion Council’s Lindsay Peoples Wagner and Sandrine Charles, Priya Ahluwalia and A Cold Wall’s Samuel Ross were recognised for efforts they’ve made this year to bring systemic social change to the industry.
Designers Gabriela Hearst, Stella McCartney, Anya Hindmarch, Christopher Raeburn and the organisers behind the Fashion Pact received accolades for their environmental work, while designers A Sai Ta, Michael Halpern and Kenneth Ize, along with Chanel and the Emergency Designer Network, were thanked for building up their communities during this difficult time.
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