It’s a tough job to select just 10 winners from the wealth of talent and expertise within the British fashion industry, but somebody’s got to do it.

Early every summer, our ‘somebodies’, who collectively make up the British Fashion Awards selection panel, put their heads together to draw up a longlist of nominees for Awards. This panel comprises three core groups: the British Fashion Council’s Press Committee, an independent body chaired by Lucy Yeomans, Editor of Harper’s Bazaar UK; our Menswear Panel, comprising leading menswear style commentators and stylists; and a dedicated Outstanding Achievement Panel, which brings together leading industry names from across the globe, who work with the Press Committee to decide the likely recipient of the BFC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Design. 

Celebrating British individuals’ and fashion companies’ successes, the longlist is made on the basis of a nominee’s creativity and innovation, business acumen, and international influence and relevance.

This isn’t a job for the flippant – each panel member can make only one nomination for each category, so every choice is a decision carefully made. By early autumn this stage is complete and ready to be whittled down to the 30-strong shortlist and, ultimately, the 10 final winners.

To reach this point, the nominations longlist is judged by an invited panel of industry experts, who decide who will remain a runner-up and who will take home the award in each of the 10 categories. The golden envelopes are then kept under lock and key until the night of the awards, when all is revealed…