British Fashion Award 2011: Fashion's most talented line-up in a generation
Tough times ahead? Bring on British creativity. Meet the fashion award winners who thrill, excite and make us proud in 2011.
BY Lisa Armstrong | 30 November 2011
From left: Sarah Burton, Alexa Chung and Victoria Beckham Photo: Zac Frackelton
British Fashion Awards 2011: red carpet arrivals
This, with apologies for anyone hoping for a rerun of The Devil Wears Prada , was a remarkably good-natured gathering: not one tantrum, not even a foot stamp. Even so, there's only so long you can keep Victoria Beckham (winner of British Designer Brand of the Year), Sarah Burton (winner of Designer of the Year, and the woman behind what is already one of the most celebrated dresses in history), Alexa Chung (voted most stylish Brit by the public) and Christopher Kane (winner of the New Establishment Award and rightly regarded as one of the most exciting designers in the world right now) waiting when there is mingling with Colin Firth, Romola Garai and Hayley Atwell to be done, and scores of other journalists and a party waiting.
British Fashion Awards 2011: Alexa Chung beats Kate Middleton to style icon crown
However, Stella McCartney (recipient of the Red Carpet Award) and 40-year-old Stella Tennant (a worthy Model of the Year whose three-decade career has just enjoyed one of its busiest years) had gone missing in action, lost somewhere on the journey from the ceremony to the party. By the time we located them (no, McCartney hadn't been absconded by the rock-and-roll set: "My days of running off with Kate Moss are over," she promised), dinner had been served.
While everyone was exploring the first course, our photographer, Zac shot the Stellas separately and slotted them in later. Well, it's fashionable isn't it? Retouching and airbrushing are now so ubiquitous that George Lamb, one of the evening's two presenters along with Lauren Laverne, gave a grateful call-out to Photoshop, and, receiving her award, Stella Tennant thanked "all the teams in post-production".
Ah, those self-deprecating Brits: Stella McCartney's friend Kate Hudson presented her with the Red Carpet Award and, with the designer's approval, proceeded to recount how the first Oscar dress McCartney ever designed for her landed her on every worst dress list in the world. Victoria Beckham cried on collecting her award, then apologised for being "so rubbish". Hard to believe she felt nervous on a stage, given her previous career. "People always say that," she said later, "but all the Spice Girl awards didn't really mean anything. This is such an honour…"
Tearful Victoria Beckham picks up a British Fashion Award
She's certainly keeping impressive company here. This may well be the best line-up of British fashion talent in a generation. They're nice, too - and notable for the way they support one another, sharing advice and expertise. "This," observed a Milanese visitor who was at the awards and peeked in on the shoot, "could never happen in Italy. It's not just that our designers' egos wouldn't let them be in the same photo, but we don't have the multi-generations of talent. There's a dearth of young designers…"
British Fashion Awards 2011: Samantha Cameron's award-winning shoes
So let's linger a moment or two longer on this picture, because, in many ways, it sums up what's going right with British design at the moment. Most striking, perhaps, is the breadth of talent: from Christopher Raeburn's profoundly British-boffin inventiveness to McCartney's body-flattering glamour; from Mary Katrantzou's much-imitated and dazzlingly original patterns (she digitally engineers the pixels in her prints so that they appear to undulate as the fabric undulates) to Sam Gainsbury, the visionary producer who masterminded so many memorable shows for Alexander McQueen and the record-breaking exhibition of his work at New York's Metropolitan Museum this year; from Sarah Burton's ravishing fusion of the historical, the futuristic and the romantic at McQueen to Tabitha Simmons's subversive, yet oh-so controlled take on classic shoe elegance.
Watch: On the red carpet at the British Fashion Awards
Some of these labels are tiny saplings, employing a handful of people - not that you'd ever guess from the extraordinary craftsmanship that comes out of their studios (a grandiose word for what is often an industrial unit in an unlovely part of London) or the reach of their influence. These designers spearhead an industry that's worth £37 billion to the UK economy and, amid the economic gloom, count among companies that are actually expanding. In the slipstream of Mulberry's and Burberry's successes, designers are finally starting to believe in the previously unorthodox, bordering on deluded theory that it might really be possible to build a global luxury brand in this country. Victoria Beckham's business - often derided by her critics as a vanity project - has achieved sales of £28 million this year, largely thanks to her jeans and sunglasses, it's true, but mightily boosted, image wise, by her catwalk line. Interestingly, her win drew one of the biggest cheers of the night - another sign that British Fashion is no longer a too-cool-for-school coterie of insiders, but willing to embrace anyone who brings something credible to the table. That's not just a question of manners - it's indicative of the way this generation of British designers are confronting market realities. A decade or so ago, describing a collection as "commercial" was considered an insult. Now, along with creativity and impeccable production, it's a given.
That's not all that's changed. Ten years ago, the British Fashion Awards had their Jedward moment in a night of excruciating naffness that began with Pamela Anderson revealing that she'd had to write the name of her co-host on her hand because she kept forgetting it (mind you, so has posterity) and culminated in a succession of lesser-spotted soap stars and footballers handing out awards. Monday night's event was unrecognisably slicker and more optimistic - which doesn't matter a jot. Unless you happen to think that now, more than ever, British creativity is worth celebrating in style.
All the action from the 2011 British Fashion Awards
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