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Céline designer Phoebe Philo has won the prestigious Designer of the Year accolade at the 2010 British Fashion Awards, beating off Erdem and Christopher Kane, held at the Savoy Theatre last night.
The French-born, British-educated designer, 37, trained at Central St Martin’s and graduated a year after Stella McCartney. As with McCartney, she refuses to work with fur, and had worked under McCartney at Chloé as her design assistant in the 1990s. She succeeded McCartney in 2001.
She had been credited with tapping Chloé into the early 2000s’ Zeitgeist, growing the brand globally and winning her British Designer of the Year in 2005, awarded by the British Fashion Council.
Philo was appointed to creative director of Céline two years ago, and has become known for the brand’s uncluttered, stylish designs (left, from the spring–summer 2011 collection).
Other winners included Lady Gaga’s stylist Nicola Formichetti, who won the Isabella Blow award for fashion creator; Lara Stone, who won Model of the Year; and supermodel Naomi Campbell received a trophy to commemorate the 25th year of her career. As we predicted on Twitter, Alexa Chung won the British Style award, which had been decided by public vote. Mulberry won the Designer Brand award, and Burberry won an award for digital innovation. Patrick Grant of E. Tautz won the menswear award; Nicholas Kirkwood won for accessories; and Meadham Kirchhoff and Husam El Odeh won Emerging Talent awards for ready-to-wear and accessories respectively.
A posthumous Outstanding Achievement award was given to Lee Alexander McQueen, who had won British Designer of the Year four times.
To commemorate his life and celebrate this award, the ceremony began with a film honouring the designer, directed by Nick Knight, styled by Edward Enninful and featuring a soundtrack by Björk. The film featured iconic pieces from McQueen’s career, such as from his autumn–winter 2000 collection (right). The award was announced by Samantha Cameron, wife of the Prime Minister.
The posthumous award was accepted by Sarah Burton, who succeeded McQueen.
Below are interviews from the red carpet and after dinner at the Savoy with V. V. Brown, Giles Deacon, David Gandy, Hilary Alexander, Anya Hindmarch, Joe Calzaghe, Douglas Booth, Thandie Newton and Victoria Beckham.
Award presentation videos are at the end of this entry.
V. V. Brown
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Giles Deacon
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David Gandy
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Hilary Alexander
Anya Hindmarch
Joe Calzaghe
Douglas Booth
Thandie Newton
Victoria Beckham
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Accessories’ Designer of the Year, presented by Claudia Schiffer, to Nicholas Kirkwood
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Outstanding Acheivement, presented by Samantha Cameron, posthumously to Lee Alexander McQueen
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Menswear Designer award, presented by Daisy Lowe, to Patrick Grant of E. Tautz
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Emerging Talent: Accessories, presented by Yasmin Le Bon, to Husam El Odeh
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Designer Brand award, presented by Lily Cole, to Mulberry
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Designer of the Year, presented by Bianca Jagger, to Phoebe Philo of Céline
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Emerging Talent: Ready-to-Wear, presented by Alexa Chung, to Meadham Kirchhoff
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Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator, presented by Daphne Guinness, to Nicola Formichetti
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British Style Award, presented by Johnny Borrell, to Alexa Chung
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Model award, presented by Bryan Ferry, to Lara Stone
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Digital Innovation Award, presented by Douglas Booth and Emma Roberts, to Burberry
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Special Recognition award, presented by Edward Enninful, to Naomi Campbell
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