Pierpaolo Piccioli Scoops Top Design Prize at Fashion Awards in London
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LONDON – Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli scooped the top prize at the Fashion Awards on Monday night at Royal Albert Hall.
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Designer of the Year is chosen by an international judging panel made up of 1,000 industry figures, and this year the other candidates were Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson and Loewe; Matthieu Blazy for Bottega Veneta; Miuccia Prada.
Demna for Balenciaga had until recently been a candidate for the prize, but he and the brand pulled out of the ceremony due to the ongoing controversy over two Balenciaga ad campaigns involving children and pornography.
Both Balenciaga and Demna have apologized for the ads. Demna had been viewed as a frontrunner for the designer award because of his bold, forward-thinking live events, and influence on the industry.
The award is given to a British or international creative whose collections have made “a notable impact on the industry, defining the shape of global fashion,” according to the BFC.
Piccioli made waves this year for his fall 2022 all-pink collection, sending models out clad in an intense magenta “Pink PP,” a new Pantone color the designer created himself.
“I wanted to work like a monochromatic artist,” said the designer. “When looking at one color, you have to go deeper than the surface, to texture, cuts, silhouette, volume and detail. Because I’m not a stylist, I like to be a designer.”
He described pink as a color “that can have different sides,” and noted how it can be sweet, sexy, powerful and rebellious.
The Fashion Awards event raises funds for the BFC Foundation, a charity that supports the future growth and success of the British fashion industry by focusing on talent, education, grant-giving and business mentoring. The foundation also aims to improve equality and opportunity in the industry.
The BFC said that in the financial year 2021-22, it remitted more than 1.3 million pounds in funds to designers and students.
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