Irish designers take home wins from the Fashion Awards 2024

Irish fashion designers won some impressive awards at this year’s British Fashion Awards, which took place on December 2.

The event is presented by Pandora, and is an annual celebration of excellence in creativity, working to support talent within the fashion industry.

At the event, which took place in London’s Royal Albert Hall, Dublin-born designer Simone Rocha won the ‘British Womenswear Designer Award’.

The star-studded red carpet included Ellie Goulding, Rihanna, Rita Ora and Irish stars Jamie Dornan, Angela Scanln, Laura Whitemore, and Nicola Coughlan.

Last year’s winner of the International Designer of the Year award, Derry-born designer Jonathan Anderson, won the title of 'Designer of the Year', as a result of his work at JW Anderson and Loewe.

Anderson told the audience, “I love fashion. It makes me get out of bed every morning”.

The award is said to recognise a "British or international designer whose work has made a notable impact on the industry, defining the shape of global fashion".

Simone Rocha was awarded ‘British Womenswear Designer of the Year’. This award recognises a "leading British womenswear designer or business who has consistently made a global impact with their innovative and creative designs, shaping the burgeoning international womenswear landscape".

While accepting the award from Irish actress and activist Nicola Coughlan, she said: "With this award I'd like to honour all the women and children who are displaced. Free Palestine".