Catherine, Princess of Wales might have rocked the fashion industry when Kensington Palace announced they would no longer release details of her outfits, as they previously had.
Despite the power that “the Kate effect” wields — often, when the princess formerly known at Kate Middleton wears an item, traffic to that brand’s e-commerce site rockets and multiple products sell out — a palace source said “she wants the focus to be on the really important issues, the people and the causes she is spotlighting.”
Today, Tuesday May 13, the princess proved her dedication to supporting the British fashion industry, and independent brands, has not wavered as she surprised industry guests by presenting the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design to Liverpool-born, London based designer Patrick McDowell.
Catherine entered the 180 Studios show space at 11:30am, dressed in a sharp tailored olive suit designed by Victoria Beckham, £1,340, alongside the British Fashion Council’s CEO Laura Weir and Chairperson David Pemsel. McDowell introduced the royal to seamstresses from his studio, and he presented designs including a feathered, fuchsia floor length kaftan-shirt and a lime green slip. She was then joined by Chioma Nnadi, head of British Vogue, and former BFC CEO Caroline Rush, to meet a selection of London’s top young designers.
In 2018 the inaugural prize, “initiated in recognition of the role the fashion industry plays in society and diplomacy”, was presented by the late Queen Elizabeth II. It has has since been awarded annually by senior royals including King Charles, Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Anne, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh and in 2022, Catherine, then the Duchess of Cambridge.
The award is given to “an emerging British fashion designer of womenswear, menswear, or accessories that shows exceptional talent and originality, whilst demonstrating value to the community and/or strong sustainable policies,” decided by seniors members of the British Fashion Council and royal family.
Previous winners include Richard Quinn (2018), Bethany Williams (2019), Rosh Mahtani of Alighieri (2020), Priya Ahluwalia (2021), Saul Nash (2022), Foday Dumbuya of Labrum London (2023) and Steven Stokey-Daley of S.S. Daley (2024).
McDowell, the designer known for his high camp, incredibly sustainable practice, tells The Standard he is “incredibly honored and humbled to have won” and that the moment marks “a game changing step forward for the brand.”
The 29-year-old designer, who trained at Central Saint Martins before founding his eponymous label in 2018, explained how important it is to see the royal family publicly supporting the British fashion industry.
“It's really crucial that the main institutions in this country support British design, British craft, sustainability, and really use that platform to celebrate businesses that are working in the right way,” McDowell says.
As Anna Wintour has noted previously, “sustainability is at the core of everything Patrick does, striving to reinvent luxury through a sustainable mindset.”
His winning still came as a surprise, as there is no application process for the award. “Nobody knows they're being selected for it. The award is selected by senior members of the BFC and the royal family, based on the work that you're doing,” he continued. “That makes it incredibly special, they obviously liked what we were doing.”
‘It's been tricky the last year’
The prize comes after a difficult year for the upcoming designer, who runs a studio on Caledonian Road, and whose business model revolves around limited collections shown on the runway, and bespoke orders for private clients.
“[Fashion] is notoriously not a business people go into to become a billionaire, but recently for everyone it's been tricky the last year, for brands of all sizes,” McDowell says. “We're no different, we're not exempt to that, we've had struggles.”
“The award has come at really the right time. To have that kind of like sample of approval is very humbling, but it also gives you the will to keep going and to stay the course. We are doing something a bit different and especially when I first started doing it, it wasn't always received super well,” he says.
McDowell was born in Wirral, a suburb of Liverpool, to a reception teacher mother, and a firefighting father and describes his upbringing as “very normal, very working class.” By the age of six he knew he wanted to be a fashion designer, and also developed a sharp business acumen. “I have always been quite entrepreneurial; at seven years old, I would make cards and sell them,” he says.
Aged 13 McDowell began creating school bags from old pairs of jeans — a practice he later discovered was called upcycling, and one that would define his future label — and that “was really the turning point, when I learnt about the transformational quality that fashion can have.” He sold hundreds of them, before expanding to experiment with gowns, and later enrolling at the esteemed fashion college, Central Saint Martins.
After a stint at Burberry, McDowell founded his label and began producing collections with sustainable practices and an investigation of his queer identity at their centre. McDowell fought against the image that environmentally conscious clothing had to be dull, and is celebrated for his tongue-in-cheek runway shows with names including Marie Antoinette Goes to Liverpool and Cinderella Shall Go To the Football. He will present his next collection this September.
McDowell, who is also the Sustainability Creative Director of Italian brand Pinko, is known for his partnerships with forward-thinking companies developing eco-friendly solutions for the fashion industry, from Tencel, a fabric created from sustainably sourced wood pulp, to Huue, who produce biosynthetic dyes
“It’s been a very wild rollercoaster,” McDowell says.
