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Who’s going to be the Designer of the Year in 2019 Fashion Awards?

Henri Kukkonen Fri 20/09/2019 - 11:31 EDT

The Fashion Awards are celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2019 and the nominees for the 10 categories will be announced within the next month (last year the date was October 23rd).

This year’s awards ceremony will be held in the Royal Albert Hall on December 2nd. Let’s take a look at who we think are going to be nominated in 2019.

Designer of the Year is the crème de la crème of the Fashion Awards. In 2018, the title was given to Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli (if this guy doesn’t sound like a designer, I don’t know who does, eh?).

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Designer of the Year 2018. Grazie❤️ “If I am reading this speech tonight, it means that dreams can take you in places you have never expected to be. I have learned to let go, emotions, feelings, thoughts, ,I have learned to go with the flow, because you can take my breath away, but you can’t take my dreams. away . Because Is the way your eyes look at things that can change things . I don’ t want to forget the kid I was, I don’t want to forget how far I was from all of that, and the enchanted eyes with wich I looked at things. I want to maintain those enchanted eyes, those dreams that took me here , and the idea of that ousider kid that did not fit in any box, but simply loved and needed to dream. My gratitude tonight goes to the BFC who granted me such and honor, I truly appreciate it. Thanks to Mr. Valentino and Mr Giammetti and to my Ceo Mr. Stefano Sassi. I would like to dedicate this award to , Simona Benedetta Pietro e Stella who always have been there for me no matter what. To my big family and friends who are always there. To all the dreamimg eyes, to all the outsiders, and to all of those who are far from everything and do not fit in any box, but still llove and need to dream. This award is dedicated to my team, to the people who dream everyday with me and everyday give me their enchanted eyes. You know who you are. To Franca Sozzani who taught me that everyday life starts all over again, always. I feel her as she is still here tonight with her pink dress. “ @britishfashioncouncil The#FashionAwards2018 @maisonvalentino

A post shared by Pierpaolo Piccioli (@pppiccioli) on Dec 11, 2018 at 3:30am PST

He cool, he real cool, and so are the $1000+ sweaters Valentino sells.

Who’s going to be the King of Catwalk in 2019?

Alessandro Michele

So who's going to be the king (or queen) of the catwalk in 2019? Gucci is the hottest fashion brand in the world at the moment. That’s at least if you believe the quarterly Lyst Index, which ranks the hottest products and brands in fashion. Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s creative director, should definitely be among the Designer of the Year nominees in 2019.

Virgil Abloh

Virgil Abloh has a lot to be proud of right now: he’s been the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s men’s wear collection since 2018, his name was on Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential people in the world in 2018, and he’s the CEO of his own label Off-White, current number 2 on the Lyst index (on top after Q1).

Remember the zebra striped look that Serena Williams wore in French Open? That was designed by Abloh.

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Let the Roland Garros begin. Here is my French Open look designed by @virgilabloh and @nike.

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on May 26, 2019 at 6:00am PDT

Off-White’s Jitney 1.4 “Cash Inside” bag is the world’s hottest fashion product this quarter (again, according to the Lyst Index). On top of this, Off-White won the Urban Luxe Award at the Fashion awards in 2017 and 2018 - now is the time to step up! All this makes Virgil Abloh our favorite to be the winner in December.

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fw19 women's Off-White™ 1.4 Jitney bag with "CASH INSIDE" text print via @blvckd0pe

A post shared by Off-White (@off____white) on Jul 31, 2019 at 9:07am PDT

Demna Gvasalia

The French luxury group Kering is doing great at the moment. They own the aforementioned juggernaut Gucci, and their Balenciaga is the fastest growing brand in couture and leathers goods. Balenciaga’s Creative Director Demna Gvasalia is not a new name at the Fashion Awards - he’s already won the Accessories Designer of the Year and the International Ready-to-Wear Designer awards in 2018 and 2016 respectively. He’s going to be hard to keep out from the considerations of this years Designer of the Year winner, and should deffo be on the shortlist of nominees.

Rihanna & Beoncé

Rihanna and Beoncé could both be on the shortlist. Think about it - the duo has de facto reasons to be on the list (Rihanna became LVMH’s first black female designer, and Adidas’s social media impressions grew 61% in 24 hours after they revealed they’d be working with Queen B), and their nominations would raise the profile of the Fashion Awards exponentially. Ok, I agree that giving the Award to Beoncé would be reminiscent of the Nobel Peace Prize and Obama-story, but hey, you never know.

Our shortlist for 2019 Designer of the Year nominees

Alessandro Michele - Cucci
Virgil Abloh - Off-White
Demna Gvasalia - Balenciaga
Rihanna - LVMH
Beoncé - Adidas

Other categories at the 2019 Fashion Awards

Designer of the year
Accessories Designer of the Year
Business Leader
Urban Luxe Award
Model of the Year
Outstanding Achievement Award
Swarovski Award for Positive Change
Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator
Brand of the Year
Special Recognition Award for Innovation
Trailblazer