Kaia Gerber is nominated for Model of the Year at the Fashion Awards, but could she be pipped at the post by Brit Adwoa Aboah?
The annual Fashion Awards are the British fashion industry's glitziest night out of the year. Hosted by the British Fashion Council in the grand environs of the Royal Albert Hall, the red carpet do is not only a chance for an end-of-year knees up but also a moment to honour the designers, labels, business powerhouses and models who have made a global impact over the past twelve months.
Today the nominees for this year's awards, which take place on Monday 4th December in partnership with Swarovksi, have been revealed.
In the Model of the Year category, Kaia Gerber is an obvious front runner. The 16 year-old daughter of Cindy Crawford had been taking a slow burn approach to kickstarting her career until September's fashion weeks arrived and she was seen on almost every major catwalk, from Calvin Klein in New York to Miu Miu in Paris with Burberry, Versace, Chanel and Alexander Wang amongst the highlights smattered inbetween.
She may have supermodel genes and international girl-of-the moment credentials, but there are a few other interesting names nominated which means that Gerber is by no means a dead cert for the accolade. Brit Adwoa Aboah has taken a refreshingly modern approach to her career, combining catwalk appearences for Dior and Coach with speaking candidly about her mental health struggles and bringing much needed diversity to the fashion world with her freckles, shaved head and piercings. Winnie Harlow, the Canadian model who suffers from vitiligo and has become known for her fearless glamour and body confident attitude, is also nominated.
If you're counting the days until Erdem's collaboration with H&M lands on November 2nd then the designer's nomination for British Designer of the Year will come as little surprise. Moralioglu is not only bringing his ultra-feminine and delicately detailled aesthetic to the masses with his H&M collection but counts stars including Claire Foy, Keira Knightley, Alexa Chung and the Duchess of Cambridge amongst his A-list fans. Other nominees in the category include Roksanda Ilincic, Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton, Christopher Kane and JW Anderson.
The Designer of the Year nominees comprise stalwarts and newcomers alike. Recent rumours swirling in the industry suggest that Phoebe Philo may be set to resign from Celine, which she has revived and transformed since her appointment in 2009 to become the label which every grown-up woman wants to wear. If true, then the award could cap a stellar tenure. Raf Simons showed his debut collection for Calvin Klein in February and has already dressed Gwyneth Paltrow, Julianne Moore and Millie Bobby Brown- as well as instigating a revival in white polo necks and cowboy boots.
While businesspeople are rarely lauded amidst the glamour of the fashion industry, their actions can often have immense impacts on our wardrobes and the nominees in the Business Leader category are cases in point. To wit, Marco Bizzari recently ushered in a new era for Gucci when he announced that the storied fashion house would no longer use fur while Tom and Ruth Chapman proved that they had played the luxury e-commerce game to perfection when they sold their Matchesfashion.com business to Apax Partners for £800million and Farfetch's José Neves is masterminding the future for how we shop online.
The full list of nominees...
Business Leader
Adrian Joffe for Dover Street Market
Guram Gvasalia for Vetements
José Neves for Farfetch
Marco Bizzarri for Gucci
Ruth & Tom Chapman for Matchesfashion.com
Designer of the Year
Alessandro Michele for Gucci
Jonathan Anderson for Loewe
Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior
Phoebe Philo for Céline
Raf Simons for Calvin Klein
British Designer of the Year - Womenswear
Christopher Kane for Christopher Kane
Erdem Moralioglu for Erdem
Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson
Roksanda Ilincic for Roksanda
Sarah Burton OBE for Alexander McQueen
Model of the Year
Adwoa Aboah
Bella Hadid
Gigi Hadid
Kaia Gerber
Winnie Harlow
British Emerging Talent - Menswear
Ben Cottrell and Matthew Dainty for Cottweiler
Charles Jeffrey for Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY
Henry Holland for House of Holland
Phoebe English for Phoebe English MAN
Samuel Ross for A-COLD-WALL*
British Emerging Talent - Womenswear
Faustine Steinmetz for Faustine Steinmetz
Matty Bovan for Matty Bovan
Michael Halpern for Halpern
Natalia Alaverdian for A.W.A.K.E
Rejina Pyo for Rejina Pyo
Business Leader
Adrian Joffe for Dover Street Market
Guram Gvasalia for Vetements
José Neves for Farfetch
Marco Bizzarri for Gucci
Ruth & Tom Chapman for Matchesfashion.com
Urban Luxe Brand
FENTY PUMA by Rihanna
Gosha Rubchinskiy
Off-White
Supreme
Vetements
Accessories Designer of the Year
Alessandro Michele for Gucci
Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent
Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga
Jonathan Anderson for Loewe
Stuart Vevers for Coach
British Designer of the Year - Menswear
Christopher Bailey MBE for Burberry
Craig Green for Craig Green
Grace Wales Bonner for WALES BONNER
Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson
Martine Rose for Martine Rose
British Designer of the Year - Womenswear
Christopher Kane for Christopher Kane
Erdem Moralioglu for Erdem
Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson
Roksanda Ilincic for Roksanda
Sarah Burton OBE for Alexander McQueen
Model of the Year
Adwoa Aboah
Bella Hadid
Gigi Hadid
Kaia Gerber
Winnie Harlow
Designer of the Year
Alessandro Michele for Gucci
Jonathan Anderson for Loewe
Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior
Phoebe Philo for Céline
Raf Simons for Calvin Klein