The British Fashion Awards are a big goddamn deal. My panic stricken getting-ready-for-them session coincided with running into my father who didn’t hesitate to mock me a LOT about my level of hysteria over whether my arrived-five-minutes-previously dress was too summery and if doing winter leg would make it look approps, or just give me hypothermia. Then there was the whole “to smoky eye or not to smoky eye” drama, which just made him scoff all the more. But, as I explained patiently with the attitude of one who knows the truth and is forced to relay that truth to a very, very stupid person, the British Fashion Awards are a hugely important event in the calendar of a major national, and global, industry plus a major social event full of influential people, not to mention a LOT of fun. So it was important, nay, imperative that I had my look down. Following that impassioned rant I was pleased to soon learn that this year’s ceremony would be one of the most spectacular, and most moving, I’ve ever been lucky enough to attend…
Me wearing head to toe Mulberry
As you probably spotted on instagram, I did opt for the much debated winter leg (and felt like Anna Dello Russo in the process… delusional, moi?) in a coral halterneck number from Mulberry’s SS15 collection. There was something about it’s swishing skirt and fiery orange hue that screamed “Hawaii” to me which, rather embarrassingly, led me to “hula hula” after a couple of cocktails. But my outfit is for once totally not the point of this post. No, the point is the awards, the presenters and the utterly magical, convivial atmosphere that surrounded the evening and made me so grateful to be a part of the world of British fashion. The great and the good of the international fashion plus ‘sleb industry were out in force including everyone from ADR herself, Chiara Ferragni, Anna Wintour, Edward Enninful and Kendall Jenner to Alexandra Shulman, Natalie Massenet, Karlie Kloss, Rihanna and of course, Cara Delevingne et al. After several hours of eating, champagne drinking and mingling with some of my favourite industry folk in the iconic Coliseum Theatre on St Martin’s Lane, we finally took our seats for the awards themselves to begin.
Natalie Massenet
Rihanna
Olivia Palermo
Anna Wintour & Bee Schaffer
Tom Ford & Rita Ora
Suki Waterhouse
Much as I don’t like to think of myself as the kind of person who weeps at the drop of a hat, things like this do have a tendency to make me slightly emotional. Especially when speeches the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier’s for Anna Wintour are made. Gaultier presented Wintour’s award for Outstanding Achievement and made a truly touching tribute to the women who’s supported his career since the start and without whom he wouldn’t be happy or healthy today, and I won’t lie, I did tear up just a smidge. I won’t list all the award winners as that would take forever but you can catch up on who won what here.
Edward Enninful & Naomi Campbell
Victoria Beckham
After the ceremony finished up we finished up our glasses and pondered our next move. Our first port of call was the official British Fashion Awards after party at The Library Club, a mere toddle across St Martin’s Lane. Richard, Victoria and made a fairly brief pitstop before continuing our rendez vous at Edward Enninful’s BFAs after party at Cafe Royal which quite frankly, was the stuff of legend. I definitely can’t retell too many tales or I’d make myself very unpopular and risk never being invited to anything that fun again but it was without a doubt one of the best and wildest bashes I’ve ever been to. Everyone from Galliano and Hamish Bowles to Rihanna, Naomi Campbell, Harry Styles and Cara Delevingne was in attendance. At one point I turned around on the dancefloor to find some sort of twerk off going on centimeters away from my Mulberry clad behind with Ri Ri and Naomi at the middle of it. I may have felt like the ugliest bug at the ugly bug ball the next morning (unfortunate when you have Victoria’s Secret Angels to interview) but, my God, it was totally worth it.
Me & Hamish Bowles
Me, Richard & Victoria
Huge thanks to the British Fashion Council and Mercedes Benz for a wonderful night!
Love Ella. X
