Getting a host of famous faces in one room with all the world's press is always going to create some viral moments (we still haven't forgotten that slap) and one of those moments to come from this year's Fashion Awards comes courtesy of Stormzy.
While Burna Boy was squinting to see what was written on the teleprompter alongside fellow host Yasmin Finney, a video of Big Mike going on stage and helping to read out the nominees for the British Independent Brand Award has been doing the rounds online. However, the even bigger news is that one of the top awards was won by none other than Wales Bonner.
The 32-year-old designer took home the Independent British Brand Award seven years after winning Emerging Menswear Designer at the awards show back in 2015 — the first year of establishing her brand and only a year after graduating from Central Saint Martens.
“I am really honored to be included in this category. It is wonderful to see the BFC is recognizing the work of independent designers in this way. To be acknowledged in this lineup means so much to me and our team, it’s wonderful and really encouraging," Founder, Grace Wales Bonner, said after the awards show. "Wales Bonner has always been about bringing an Afro Atlantic perspective to British or European Luxury and this is what we have been working towards since 2015 when I first established the brand.”
Since that win in 2015, the designer's profile has grown exponentially and notable moments include collaborating with Dior for its Resort 2020 collection, curating the exhibition A Time for New Dreams at the Serpentine Galleries, and becoming Head of the Department of Fashion Design at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna.
Meanwhile, her namesake brand has continued to grow with highly-acclaimed runway shows filled with a huge depth of cultural research and more big wins such as receiving the CFDA International Men’s Designer of the Year last year.
This year, in particular, has seen the brand gain more fans as its long-running adidas collaboration reached new levels of popularity and constant attention on Instagram fashion pages. This is, in particular, due to a duo of Samba sneakers that hold a lot of the responsibility for the shoe's resurgence over the past year.
Of course, it was not only Wales Bonner who was recognized at this year's awards, other winners included S.S. Daley who won the BFC Foundation Award, Jefferson Hack with The Special Recognition Award for Cultural Curation, and Pierpaolo Piccioli picked up Designer of the Year for his work at Valentino.
Meanwhile, Central Cee has gotten my vote for the most viral moment from the awards show. Arriving in a tracksuit, the rapper alleged that the security thought he was an intruder on the red carpet after a photo of him has been getting attention online.
However, let's not be distracted by that photo of Central Cee, and keep our focus on the success of Wales Bonner. Explore some of the best pieces from the brand below.
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