Power of pink helps Valentino's Piccioli to another top designer title at Fashion Awards

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 6, 2022

Valentino’s creative director scooped the top prize at the Fashion Awards in London on Monday evening. Pierpaolo Piccioli was named designer of the year at the British Fashion Council-organised event.

Hosted by actor Jodie Turner-Smith, the awards included a star-studded red carpet. But there was a notable absence from both the red carpet and nominees list with Balenciaga creative chief Demna not there. His name removed from the list of designer of the year nominees while the controversy around the label’s latest ad campaign rages on.

But it was Piccioli’s night as he took home the top title for the second time (he previously won in 2018) in a year during which his AW22 almost-monotone pink collection became the defining colour story of the season. The colour (created in conjunction with Pantone and called Pink PP) may be exclusive, but it has been a wider trendsetter.

The importance of the Fashion Awards was reflected in the celebrity-filled red carpet and Valentino had its fair share of endorsements with Naomi Campbell, Kristen McMenamy (in pink, of course), Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Florence Pugh all dressed by the label.

The red carpet also featured Elizabeth Debicki, Maya Jama, Stormzy, Georgia May Jagger, Lila Moss (there to see her father Jefferson Hack win an award), FKA Twigs, Erin O’Connor, Irina Shayk (in H&M) and Tilda Swinton, among others.

The nominees and winners are voted for by an international judging panel made up of over 1,000 industry experts.

The rest of the event also saw multi-award winning  Grace Wales Bonner adding yet another title to her line-up, as her Wales Bonner label was named the top independent British brand, while the BFC Foundation award went to SS Daley.

Burberry was hailed for its “metaverse world and gaming experience”. And Raf Simons, outgoing Gucci creative chief Alessandro Michele, Priya Ahluwalia, Bethany Williams and Gabriela Hearst were among those named as part of the 15-strong leaders of change line-up. 

Bella Hadid was named Model of the Year and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard nabbed the outstanding achievement award after gifting his business to an environment-focused charity.

Stylist and creative director Katie Grand received the Isabella Blow award for fashion creator and Dazed & Confused co-founder Jefferson Hack won a special recognition award for cultural curation.

The event also included a fashion salute segment featuring a host of British designer brands in which tribute was paid to the late Queen Elizabeth.