British Fashion Awards 2013

Ah, the British Fashion Awards. Nothing like a big, fancy celebration of the UK’s sartorial clout to make you come over all patriotic. I was lucky enough to attend last year’s ceremony and adored every second of it but this time around the British Fashion Council truly took things above and beyond. I shared my outfit for the evening with you earlier this week but in case you missed it, I went all out Brit-tastic in a bejewelled, cobalt lace Matthew Williamson number with a glittery Anya Hindmarch clutch. No matter how many major fashion events I go to, I still feel a knot of nervous anticipation beforehand and considering the clout of this occasion, I felt positively giddy. Ridiculous really considering that no one would be looking my way with A listers flocking from all over the globe to attend and God knows I wasn’t nominated for anything, but there you go! By the time I arrived at the Coliseum Opera Theatre, the whole of St Martins Lane was packed with paparazzi, police and bemused passers by interspersed with insanely glamourous attendees clutching their invitations and high heeling it through the fray as fast as their Kirkwoods could carry them. While I waited for Nik to arrive, I stopped for a quick cigarette outside the St Martins Lane hotel and heard a french accented voice behind me ask to borrow a light. I turned round to discover said voice belonged to none other than Clemence Poesy, one of my favourite actresses and ultimate style crush, which naturally caused me to completely lose my cool and blurt out how much I loved her in The Tunnel. Oh well.

Alexa Chung

Clemence Poesy & Erdem Moralioglu

Rosie Huntington Whitely

Suki Waterhouse

Susie Lau

Once Nik finally arrived (admittedly I was stupidly early so couldn’t really get annoyed we made our way inside the gorgeous building to be greeted by uniformed waiters proffering trays of champagne. We made our way upstairs to the theatre bars which were filling up by the second. While the nominees, sponsors and über celebs dined, the rest of us got our drink n’ mingle on which, dare I say it, might have been even more fun. Had I been dining with Miuccia Prada and Gwyneth Paltrow however, I may have thought differently but anyway, I digress. Among the many, many, many industry pals I bumped into were Eudon Choi, one of the most charming fellows in fashion whose SS14 show was so unbelievably beautiful I almost wept when I watched it, as was that of the equally lovely and talented Emilia Wickstead, who joined in the party wearing a swoon-worthy candy pink ensemble from her own Spring collection. Rainbow haired model Chloe Nørgaard also pitched up in a kaleidoscopic McQueen outfit and me, her and SUITCASE Magazine Ed-In-Chief, Serena Guen had a good laugh reminiscing on a crazy night we spent party hopping in Chloe’s zebra print Jeep during New York Fashion Week last feb.

Me & Chloe

Me, Eudon and Abby (wearing Eudon Choi SS14… jel)

Me & Nik

Several hours of champagne and gossiping later it was time to take our seats so that the main event could begin. Very conveniently me and Nik were seated next to each other (thank you BFC!) so I kept up a running commentary throughout, lucky old him. That said, I was rendered (briefly) speechless several times by the incredible, iconic individuals who took to the stage. I’m talking Miuccia, Suzy Menkes, Kate Moss, Marc Jacobs and Donatella Versace… I know! I wont list the winners because you can see them here but I will say a huge congrats to them all for being such an obscenely talented lot. With Nicholas Kirkwood, Sophia Webster, Simone Rocha, Christopher Kane Erdem and Christopher Bailey all scooping up awards (some more than “just” the one) it warmed my cockles to see such deserved recognition of homegrown design talent and the fact they all just-so-happened to be personal faves didn’t hurt a bit.

Gwyneth Paltrow & Miuccia Prada (!)

Jack Guinness, Harry Styles & Alexa Chung

Donatella Versace (DONATELLA) & Christopher Kane

After that, we all piled back into the bars for tasty yet lethally strong Patrón cocktails (tequila on a Monday is not advisable) before moving en masse to the St Martins Lane hotel for the after party. I have to admit that the rest of the evening is a smidge on the blurry side but I do have a vague and rather hilarious recollection of Markus Lupfer and I deciding to “take a turn of the room” in the style of Victorian ladies. After that, me, Nik, Serena and SUITCASE’s lovely head of tech, Aaliyah finished off with a late night feast at Soho House involving macaroni cheese and honey glazed cocktail sausages, very British indeed!

Thank you British Fashion Council for what was a truly fantastic night on every level! I may not have felt sprightly come Tuesday but hell, it was worth it.

Love Ella. X