Published on: 11/30/2021 – 02:56Amended: 11/30/2021 – 02:54

The 2021 ceremony, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, saw Kim Jones win “Designer of the Year”, for Dior Men and Fendi, and Tommy Hilfiger was honored with the “Outstanding Achievement Award”.

Meanwhile, British designer Stella McCartney and British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful were among the 15 “leaders of change”.

But the event was overshadowed by the passing of Abloh, who died Sunday at the age of 41 after battling cancer for several years.

Louis Vuitton’s pioneering menswear chef and the first black artistic director of a major French luxury brand, was also named the Change Leader and praised throughout the evening.

A minute’s silence was observed at the start of the show in memory of the late founder of the Off-White brand and DJ, before British actor Idris Elba recited Maya Angelou’s poem “When the tall trees fall”.

“Virgil Abloh was the true embodiment of creativity,” BFC said in a statement following the ceremony.

“With Off-White, Abloh reinvented what fashion design means, and at Louis Vuitton Men, he not only made luxury linked to culture, he made it culture.”

The annual fundraiser for the BFC Foundation was held virtually in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the red carpet has returned to London this year.

American actress Demi Moore, Indian actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas and British rapper Kano were among the presenters.

The nominees and winners were elected by an international panel of industry experts of more than 1,000, with two general awards and four “special recognition awards” presented alongside the 15 gong “leaders of change”.

For the first time this year, the BFC unveiled an award for “Metaverse Design” which “recognizes a digital designer who pushes the boundaries and showcases excellence in digital fashion design” in the virtual reality space.

The first winner, cSapphire, which designs clothing online, beat the competition of four other fashion designers on the Roblox digital platform.

© 2021 AFP