Everything You Need To Know About The Fashion Awards 2018

The Fashion Awards are the sparkliest style gongs on the planet – not only due to 2017 Model of the Year winner Adwoa Aboah’s glittering Halpern situation on the red carpet, but because they are sponsored by Swarovski. Formerly known as the British Fashion Awards, the event began way back in 1989 and celebrates the people and brands pushing fashion forward each year. Needless to say, winning a Fashion Award is a really big deal for fashion folk.

The 2018 nominations were announced this morning at a screening event in the luxurious cinema space at Soho Townhouse. After speeches from representatives of the British Fashion Council and Swarovski, who spoke about the importance of the awards, the nominees were revealed via a video (by creative director Robin Derrick). In just a few short minutes, the film delivers a heady snapshot of the best British and international fashion talent around today.

Highlights from the 2018 nominations include the breakout Sudanese-Australian model Adut Akech challenging reigning champ Adwoa Aboah for Model of the Year (alongside Winnie Harlow, Bella Hadid and Kaia Gerber). Four women designers (Clare Waight Keller, Roksanda Ilinčić, Simone Rocha and Victoria Beckham) will challenge last year’s British Designer of the Year (Womenswear) winner JW Anderson; and a strong lineup including Rejina Pyo, Matty Bovan, Richard Quinn, A.W.A.K.E and Aries will battle it out for the emerging womenswear talent award. French LVMH prize winner Marine Serre, Virgil Abloh’s Off-White, Alyx, Palace and Supreme will vie for the controversially titled Urban Luxe award.

British Designer of the Year (Menswear) award holder Craig Green is up against JW Anderson, Kim Jones (at Dior), Martine Rose and Riccardo Tisci (following his debut season at Burberry) at the 2018 awards, with the emerging menswear talent nominees including Cottweiler, ART SCHOOL, Kiko Kostadinov, Phoebe English and Samuel Ross (of A-COLD-WALL*). Alessandro Michele’s Gucci, Clare Waight Keller at Givenchy, Kim Jones for Dior Homme, Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino and Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton will all be looking to follow Raf Simons (for Calvin Klein) as the 2018 Designer of The Year winner.

An annual event, the Awards aren’t just an opportunity for designers, editors, models and everyone else to get drunk together, like an industry-wide Christmas party (though they are that, too). The ceremony is a key fundraising event for the British Fashion Council’s charities, which support fashion education programmes and scholarships, funding and mentoring for emerging talents, and hardship funds to help students struggling with money to complete their education. Known previously as the British Fashion Awards, the 'British' tag was dropped in 2016 in recognition of the global focus of the ceremony – a focus reinforced this year with the addition of the 'NEW WAVE: Creatives' list of 100 emerging talents in a range of fashion disciplines, from all around the world.

In a statement, Nadja Swarovski (of Swarovski) said she was delighted to help announce the 2018 nominees. "Representing fashion’s most inspiring emerging and established talents, this list is the perfect showcase for the energy and diversity of the industry today," she said, adding: "We are excited to unveil the winners at the awards show in London in December, which will raise truly vital funds for the BFC’s initiatives." The event will again be held at the Royal Albert Hall.

The full list of nominations is below.

British Designer of the Year Womenswear
Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy
Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson
Roksanda Ilinčić for ROKSANDA
Simone Rocha for Simone Rocha
Victoria Beckham for VICTORIA BECKHAM

British Emerging Talent Womenswear
Matty Bovan for Matty Bovan
Natalia Alaverdian for A.W.A.K.E.
Rejina Pyo for REJINA PYO
Richard Quinn for Richard Quinn
Sofia Prantera for Aries

British Designer of the Year Menswear
Craig Green for CRAIG GREEN
Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson
Kim Jones for Dior Homme
Martine Rose for Martine Rose
Riccardo Tisci for Burberry

British Emerging Talent Menswear
Ben Cottrell and Matthew Dainty for COTTWEILER
Eden Loweth & Tom Barratt for ART SCHOOL
Kiko Kostadinov for Kiko Kostadinov
Phoebe English for PHOEBE ENGLISH
Samuel Ross for A-COLD-WALL*

Designer of the Year
Alessandro Michele for Gucci
Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy
Kim Jones for Dior Homme
Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino
Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton

Urban Luxe
Alyx
Palace
Marine Serre
Off-White
Supreme

Model of the Year
Adut Akech
Adwoa Aboah
Bella Hadid
Kaia Gerber
Winnie Harlow

Brand of the Year
Balenciaga
Burberry
Gucci
Off-White
Prada

Accessories Designer of the Year
Alessandro Michele for Gucci
Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga
Jonathan Anderson for LOEWE
Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior
Miuccia Prada for Prada

Business Leader
Jonathan Akeroyd for VERSACE
José Neves for FARFETCH
Marco Bizzarri for Gucci
Marco Gobbetti for Burberry
Michael Burke for Louis Vuitton