British Fashion Awards 2011

The British Fashion Awards are the ultimate accolade for the fashion industry and Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen took home the esteemed Designer of the Year award. This year's BFA's were hosted by George Lamb and Lauren Laverne

and guests included BFC Ambassador Samantha Cameron, Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham, Kate Hudson, Colin Firth, Olivia Palermo, Josephine de la Baume, Marc Jacobs, Lady Amanda Harlech and Alexa Chung.

The ‘New Establishment Award’ was introduced this year to recognise a particular movement in British fashion that is taking the industry by storm.  The inaugural winner is Christopher Kane whose visionary designs for his own label continue to lead trends globally, become must haves for any fashion credible shoot and essentials for all fashion collectors.

The ‘Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator’ was won by Sam Gainsbury of Gainsbury and Whiting. Gainsbury is a force to be reckoned with in the creative world; known in the fashion industry for translating designers’ visions into unparalleled fashion experiences. This year she turned her talents to the ‘Savage Beauty’ exhibition which broke all records and has been widely recognised as the most successful fashion exhibition in the world.

The ‘Red Carpet’ award went to Stella McCartney and Victoria Beckham was the recipient of the ‘Designer Brand’ award.

Mary Katrantzou was awarded  the ‘Emerging Talent – Womenswear’ award for her bold graphic print collections and Christopher Raeburn received the award for ‘Emerging Talent Award –Menswear’, a brand new category for 2011.

Kim Jones was awarded ‘Menswear Designer’, for being instrumental in enhancing men's fashion in the past year.  He was appointed Style Director at Louis Vuitton earlier this year.

Stella Tennant collected the ‘Model’ award, her timeless beauty has seen her feature in numerous shows, covers, editorials and major campaigns which this year included Zara, Reed Krakoff, Etro, Chanel and Celine.

The British Fashion Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Fashion’ went to Paul Smith. The BFC stated Smith is a true icon in the industry for all that he consistently brings to the world of fashion.

Decided entirely by public vote, the ‘British Style’ award went to model and presenter Alexa Chung. According to the BFC this award received more votes than ever before showing the increasing engagement from consumer audiences in fashion.

Harold Tillman CBE, Chairman of the British Fashion Council, commented, “This year’s nominees demonstrate the breadth and creativity London has to offer. The fashion brands and designers that are based here set the trends across the globe. In addition, we are thrilled to be working alongside Save the Children on their Born to Walk Tall campaign, championed by our BFC Ambassador Samantha Cameron, this year.”

Images: BFC/ Billa Baldwin