ITS Finalists nominated at The Fashion Awards 2022. Demna, Matthieu Blazy and Chopova Lowena among the nominees of the Oscars of Fashion.

Assigned annually in London by the British Fashion Council, The Fashion Awards might seem like they’ve only existed since Craig Green won Designer of the Year in 2016. But the ceremony to recognise British and international talent has been running for a long time. John Galliano won his first (of three) recognition as British Designer of the Year back in 1987.

Today, the event is one of the highlights in the fashion industry calendar, some even describing it as the “Oscars of Fashion” with a red carpet that welcomes not just fashion insiders but the likes of actors and celebrities. The name has lost the “British” prefix gaining a more anonymous yet absolute “The” to stress internationality, and represents BFC’s main fundraising opportunity for its Education Foundation, a charity that fuels the council’s initiatives (like NewGen and the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund) to promote and support the most interesting British fashion students.

On Monday 5th December the Royal Albert Hall in London will host the 2022 edition of The Fashion Awards. The nominees have already been announced, and a Special Recognition Award for Cultural Curation will be delivered to co-founder of Dazed Media Jefferson Hack.

What excites us the most though is that among this year’s nominees there’s some familiar names from the ITS Family. Balenciaga creative director Demna Collection of the Year winner at ITS back in 2004, returning several times as ITS Contest jury member – no later than September to celebrate 20 years of ITS during ITS Contest 2022. He has been nominated for the Designer of the Year Award as has Matthieu Blazy, creative director of Bottega Veneta and former winner of ITS back in 2006 when he won the Maria Luisa Award, assigned by legendary Maria Luisa Poumaillou herself. Also contending for the same prize – Miuccia Prada, Pierpaolo Piccioli and JW Anderson.

In addition to Demna and Matthieu, the BFC Foundation Award, which recognises emerging designers who received support from the BFC Foundation and had major creative impact on global fashion, sees among its nominees two more familiar names, Laura Lowena and Emma Chopova of celebrated folklore/sportswear brand Chopova Lowena, that won the ITS 2018 OTB Award assigned by Renzo Rosso.

Early works from Demna, Matthieu and Chopova Lowena are part of the ITS Arcademy Collection – 14,359 portfolios, 1,077 dresses, 160 accessories and over 700 photographic projects from 20 years of ITS Contest, describing the history of contemporary fashion evolution. “The First Exhibition” curated by Olivier Saillard and opening on March 21st 2023 will be featuring their creativity at the earliest stage of their career, when they were just graduates from fashion colleges around the world, way before shaping the fashion industry with their creativity.

It is exciting to have been witnesses to their career from the very beginning, to have preserved the seed of their creative development in ITS Arcademy, for future generations to be inspired by, and to see them all, today, nominated for such a coveted prize as The Fashion Awards.

Mark March 21st 2023 on your calendars and come visit ITS Arcademy to discover creativity from Demna, Matthieu Blazy, Chopova Lowena, Craig Green, Nicolas di Felice (Art Director Maison Courrèges), Richard Quinn (who won Emerging Designer of the Year at the Fashion Awards in 2018), James Long (Creative Director Iceberg), Alithia Spuri-Zampetti (Associate Head of Design Alexander McQueen) and over 14,000 creative talents at the beginning of their career.

Cover photo credits: Bertie Watson, British Fashion Council