British Designer Of The Year Award

All The Winners Of This Prestigious Fashion Design Title

Jul 16, 2009

London is one of the fashion capitals and British designers have always played key roles in the industry, not only in Britain but worldwide.

The annual British Fashion Awards celebrate the achievements of British designers, models and fashion creatives. The most prestigious title given out is the British Designer of the Year award. A glance at the list reads not only like a who’s-who of British design talent but of worldwide big players within the industry, showing the strength and dominance of British designers out there.

In 23 ceremonies there have been six female recipients and nine male. Alexander McQueen and John Galliano are kings of the award, picking it up an impressive four times each. Vivienne Westwood, Rifat Ozbek and Hussein Chalayan are next in line, all being double winners.

Winners In The '80s:

Recipients of the ‘80s awards reflected the themes and issues of the decade. Hamnett had huge popularity with her political edged slogan t-shirts and Betty Jackson’s exaggerated styles captured the decades love of dramatic dressing. With his whole graduate collection being bought by the shop Browns, John Galliano started on a high, hence why he was given the title a mere three years after graduating fashion college.

Of Turkish origins, Rifat Ozbek's ethnic inspired designs captured the multi-cultural aspect of British society. Lesser-known designers Workers for Freedom were given the award in 1989, the independent label capturing the entrepenurial ambience of the time.

Early '90s Recipients:

Only two new names were added to the list in the early ‘90s. Vivienne Westwood surprisingly only collecting the award - albeit twice – in 1990 and 1991, after her pioneering work in the ‘70s and ‘80s, that heavily linked music and fashion and challenged people to think outside the box. The other new addition was John Rocha who has proved a steady feature of the industry, consistently producing high quality collections.

In 1995, Galliano was appointed head of Givenchy and became the first ever British designer to head up a French fashion house.

Turn Of The Century Awards:

Only three winners in eight years shows the dominance of fashion heavyweights. Galliano picked up his fourth award in 1997, after his successful move to head designer at the House of Dior, where he has reigned ever since. Hussein Chalayan dominated the turn of the century. His conceptual and more scientific approach towards fashion design being embraced by the industry.

Alexander McQueen achieved the impressive feat of collecting four awards in eight years, indicating he was either untouchable by any other British designer, a lack of imagination on the British Fashion Council’s part or perhaps not much fresh blood coming through in those years.

Most Recent Award Winners:

The past five years has seen a refreshing breakthrough of exciting new British talent. Phoebe Philo rose to recognition as Stella McCartney’s design assistant at the House of Chloé but she picked up the award three years before McCartney. Stella McCartney left Chloé in 2001 to set up her own label and Philo succeeded her as creative director. Philo now designs for Celine and McCartney has her own label under the Gucci group umbrella.

Fellow Yorkshiremen Christopher Bailey and Giles Deacon were awarded in 2005 and 2006. As creative director, Bailey has triumphantly rejuvenated classic British brand Burberry and Deacon launched his own label two years previously to winning the award, to critical acclaim.

Most recent winner and former Vogue journalist Luella Bartley has gained many fans with her girlie, vintage-inspired designs. Her fun yet superbly made clothes make her a deserving winner.

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