Christopher Kane must be one of the most decorated young new guard of British fashion designers after he won the 2011 British Fashion Council/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund prize last night. The fund was created in 2008 to ‘assist talented British designers with the potential for commercial growth to start making the transition from a developing creative business to a global fashion brand’ according to their website. Christopher beat out some tough competition from Charlotte Olympia, E. Tautz, Jonathan Saunders, Nicholas Kirkwood, Osman Yousefzada, Peter Pilotto and Richard Nicoll to win the tidy £200,000 to help further their fashion dream
“I am absolutely delighted to be this year’s winner of the BFC /Vogue Designer Fashion Fund,” Kane says in a release. “It is such an honour to receive this accolade especially when I have such huge respect for all the nominees. The prize enables us to implement our strategic vision for the Christopher Kane business going forward. We would like to thank everyone involved in making this decision and all those who have helped establish our business. We would especially like to thank our team who work incredibly hard every day and without whom none of this would be possible.”
According to BFC Chairman, Harold Tillman CBE, it was Christopher’s success to day and the brand development proposal he submitted was what secured him the prize. The judging committee’s chairwoman (and editor of British Vogue) Alexandra Shulman said that she was delighted that Christopher won the 2011 award.
“His last collection was one of his best with a strong point of view but also clothes that all of us want to wear. He represents the best of British fashion talent – original, determined and influential.”
Congratulations Christopher!
Video: Christopher Kane talks about what winning means to him
