British Fashion Awards 2008

The British Fashion Council was delighted to announce Luella Bartley as the winner of the prestigious Designer of the Year Award.  Ten other leading fashion figures were also honoured at the 2008 British Fashion Awards, supported by Swarovski, held Tuesday 25^th November at Lawrence Hall, Westminster, London.

Hosted by broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, the ceremony saw designers, models, fashion editors and stylists, and industry VIPs joined by a glamorous line-up of guests and presenters, including Claudia Schiffer, Sophie Ellis Bexter, Alex James, and Erin O’Connor.

Milliner Stephen Jones received the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Design in recognition for his extraordinary career during which he has collaborated with fashion designers established and new, as well as creating masterpieces of headwear for other creative industries such as music, film and dance.

The Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator, which was renamed last year in honour of the late visionary stylist, went to photographer Tim Walker.

Jimmy Choo won the Designer Brand category.  Headed by Founder and President Tamara Mellon, and CEO Joshua Schulman, the company which was founded in 1996 now enjoys the visibility of a major luxury accessories brand with 70 branded stores in many of the world's top locations.

Christopher Bailey, Creative Director for Burberry was named Menswear Designer for the second consecutive year.

For the first time the Bespoke Award was created in recognition of an important sector of the industry and was awarded to Richard James for his contribution to British tailoring.

New to the British Fashion Awards this year are the Swarovski Emerging Talent Awards for Ready-to-Wear and Accessories.  They were conceived by the British Fashion Council and Swarovski to recognise and financially reward designers as they establish their fledgling fashion businesses. Louise Goldin won the ready to wear award and Nicholas Kirkwood was triumphant in the accessories category.


FULL LIST OF WINNERS

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FASHION DESIGN:
Stephen Jones presented by Erin O’Connor

DESIGNER OF THE YEAR:
Luella Bartley presented by Alexandra Shulman

ACCESSORY DESIGNER:
Rupert Sanderson presented by Roisin Murphy

BESPOKE:
Richard James presented by Lord Coe and Jeremy Langmead

MENSWEAR DESIGNER:
Christopher Bailey for Burberry presented by Alex James

MODEL OF THE YEAR:
Jourdan Dunn presented by Christian Slater

RED CARPET DESIGNER:
Matthew Williamson presented by Emilia Fox

ISABELLA BLOW AWARD FOR FASHION CREATOR:
Tim Walker presented by David Furnish

DESIGNER BRAND:
Jimmy Choo presented by Sophie Ellis Bextor

SWAROVSKI EMERGING TALENT AWARD ACCESSORIES:
Nicholas Kirkwood presented by Claudia Schiffer and Jefferson Hack

SWAROVSKI EMERGING TALENT AWARD – READY TO WEAR:
Louise Goldin presented by Claudia Schiffer and Jefferson Hack.

For British Fashion Awards enquiries, please contact:
Gemma Ebelis, Crush Communications
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7851 4655
E-mail: gemma@crushcommunications.co.uk
Also visit www.britishfashionawards.com for further information and the latest news.