British fashion's best and brightest all turned out for last night's British Fashion Awards 2012 at the Savoy in London
British fashion's best and brightest all turned out for last night's British Fashion Awards 2012 at the Savoy in London, where Stella McCartney took home top honours for Designer of the Year and Designer Brand of the Year.
IN PICS: BRITISH FASHION AWARDS 2012
Designer Stella McCartney, in an embellished-trim strapless jumpsuit from her eponymous line, was the evening's big winner, scoring two prizes for Designer of the Year and Designer Brand of the Year. Her creations were in high-demand at yesterday's event, adorning everyone from A-lister Salma Hayek to gold medallist Victoria Pendleton.
As she accepted her awards, Stella revealed that a prominent fashion CEO told her she wouldn't succeed when she set out to launch her own-name brand after her tenure as creative director at Chloe.
'He said to me: "Stella, you will live to regret this. You will fail, and I offer to you to stay here in Paris and start your brand with us,"' she said.
'I will never forget the way that I felt when I left his office. I could not have felt more determined to prove him wrong. With this award, I feel like I am at the start of doing that, and this is for everyone who ever believed in me.' Alexa Chung took home the coveted British Style Award (sponsored by Vodafone) - for the third year running - looking every bit her fashion-forward self in a black embroidered dress by Simone Rocha teamed with embroidered sheer booties from Nicholas Kirkwood and a boxy black bag, and her accolade was presented to her by none other than Valentino, while model-of-the-moment Cara Delevingne got top marks as Model of the Year.
Delevingne, who earned her Angel wings on the Victoria's Secret catwalk earlier this month, ensured all eyes were on her in a metallic green mini-dress by Burberry and silver peep-toe heels.
The night's other big winners included Harold Tillman, who won the Special Recognition Award for his term as Chairman of the British Fashion Council, cobbler extraordinaire Manolo Blahnik, who was honoured with the BFC Outstanding Achievement in Fashion gong, renowned Central St Martins professor Louise Wilson, who took home the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator and Kim Jones, who won Menswear Designer of the Year for his work for Louis Vuitton.
Other rising talents to be recognised for their contributions to fashion at the soirée include Nicholas Kirkwood, crowned 2012's Accessory king; Erdem, who scooped the New Establishment Award; Roksanda Ilincic, who was honoured with the Red Carpet award, and Emerging Talent winners J.W. Anderson (Womenswear), Jonathan Saunders (Menswear) and Sophie Hulme (Accessories).
WATCH our exclusive video interviews with the stars of the British Fashion Awards 2012 red carpet below...
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IN PICS: STELLA MCCARTNEY S/S 2013
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