A little bit of rain did nothing to dampen the creative spirit at the Fashion Awards 2023, held by the British Fashion Council and sponsored by Pandora.
Celebrities such as Anne Hathaway and Gwyneth Paltrow donned extravagant designer gowns to celebrate the crème de la crème of the fashion industry. Here's everything you need to know, in case you missed our live reporting on the night.
Fashion Awards 2023 winners
Designer of the Year Award
Recognises a British or international designer whose innovative collections have made a notable impact on the industry, defining the shape of global fashion.
Winner: Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson and LOEWE
British Womenswear Designer Award
Recognises a leading British womenswear designer who has consistently made a global impact with their innovative and creative designs, shaping the burgeoning international womenswear landscape.
Winner: Maximilian Davis for Ferragamo
British Menswear Designer Award
Recognises a leading British menswear designer who has consistently made a global impact with their innovative and creative designs, shaping the burgeoning international menswear landscape.
Winner: Martine Rose for Martine Rose
BFC Foundation Designer Award
Recognises a BFC Foundation initiative designer who has had a major impact on global fashion over the past year.
Winner: Conner Ives
New Establishment Womenswear Award
Recognises a womenswear designer who has created a new movement in British fashion and has had a sustained impact on the industry globally.
Winner: Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena for Chopova Lowena
New Establishment Menswear Award
Recognises a menswear designer who has created a new movement in British fashion and has had a sustained impact on the industry globally.
Winner: Bianca Saunders
Outstanding Achievement Award
Celebrates the creative contribution of an individual to the fashion industry, who throughout their illustrious career has constantly shaped and reshaped the fashion world through their innovation and creativity.
Winner: Valentino Garavani
Model of the Year Award
Recognises the global impact of a model who, over the last 12 months, has dominated the industry, with an influence that transcends the catwalk.
Winner: Paloma Elsesser
Special Recognition Award for Special Recognition Award for Contribution to the Fashion Industry
Honours outstanding contribution to the fashion industry.
Winner: Charlotte Tilbury
Special Recognition Award for Championing Young Designer Talent
Honours outstanding contribution to the fashion industry and securing the pipeline of London’s fashion talent.
Winner: Sarah Mower
Special Recognition Award
Honours outstanding contribution to the fashion industry.
Winner: Sarah Burton
Posthumous Special Recognition Award
Recognises outstanding contribution to culture and the fashion industry.
Winner: Joe Casely-Hayford
Cultural Innovator Award
Celebrates a leading innovator and imagemaker in the entertainment industry, who over the course of the year, has created viral fashion moments which have had a profound impact on the fashion industry and wider culture.
Winner: Sam Smith
Trailblazer Award
Celebrates the very best innovators and creatives in fashion, whose work in the past year has significantly shaped the industry.
Winner: Edward Enninful
The Pandora Leader of Change Award
Celebrates a person who leads with innovation to create positive change globally. They consistently challenge the status quo. Their work is empowering, progressive and forward-thinking. They use their platform positively shifting perceptions as a result of their deep commitment to moving the dial when it comes to authentic representation.
Winner: Michaela Coel
Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator
Recognises the very best innovators and creatives in fashion, celebrating invaluable contributions that have changed the entire fashion landscape.
Winner: Campbell Addy
The big moments
Hosted by Maya Jama and Kojey Radical, the awards celebrated young and emerging talent as well as legendary fashion heavyweights.
After a brilliant performance during which Sam Smith wore a custom Vivienne Westwood gown, they accepted their Cultural Innovator Award, delivering a rousing speech which ended with the inspiring message: 'There is no clothing in the world that fits quite as good as freedom.'
The evening also paid tribute to the greats the fashion industry lost: Dame Vivienne Westwood and her inimitable and rule-breaking approach to design and unapologetic activism and stance against global warming, and Joe Casely-Hayford, whose son accepted a posthumous Special Recognition Award in his honour.
Elsewhere, the iconic Pamela Anderson presented Michaela Coel with the The Pandora Leader of Change Award. She received a standing ovation from Anne Hathaway as she ascended to the stage, where she delivered a powerful speech during which she revealed I May Destroy You resulted in a bill against stealthing being approved in Chile.
'The system may have failed me, but maybe it will succeed for someone else somewhere else. I want to say thank you, to my audience, because in your openness to allowing my work to change you, you have given my pain meaning,' she said.
The ceremony came to a close with a beautiful homage to Valentino Garavani, who received an Outstanding Achievement Awards from Gwyneth Paltrow, accepted by his long time friend Mr Giammetti. The homage took the form of a fashion show of 24 of the most iconic red dresses to a backdrop of: "An evening at the opera with Valentino", the ballet which was filmed last month in his hometown, at the city of Voghera.
More importantly, the event helped raise money for the BFC, which invests it on education, grant-giving, and business mentoring for the next generation of British fashion designers.
The Fashion Awards 2023 red carpet
From Gwyneth Paltrow to Anne Hathaway, Sam Smith to Amal Clooney, see all the beautiful red carpet looks below.
