Her Majesty The Queen today presented the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design to emerging British fashion designer Richard Quinn.
The Award, initiated in recognition of the role the fashion industry plays in society and diplomacy, will be awarded annually, presented by a senior member of the Royal Family, to an emerging British fashion designer of womenswear, menswear, or accessories that shows exceptional talent and originality, whilst demonstrating value to the community and/or strong sustainable policies.
Photo – Debenhams ©
Richard Quinn was selected by British Fashion Council (BFC) Chief Executive Caroline Rush CBE and its Ambassador for Emerging Talent, Sarah Mower MBE based on the above criteria. Richard is a leading emerging fashion talent in the UK, recognized for his exceptional prints and has already been marked for success as part of the BFC’s NEWGEN talent identification and support scheme. Already selling to leading stores around the world, his ethos of collaboration goes beyond his design business which has seen collaborations with global stores such as Lane Crawford and Matches, into creating a print studio, offering high quality, price accessible services to students, his peer group of emerging designers and more recently offering sampling services to more established businesses such as Burberry and JW Anderson.
The idea of the Award was raised by Her Majesty’s Personal Advisor, Ms Angela Kelly, who has orchestrated The Queen’s wardrobe for over 26 years. Following Her Majesty’s 90th birthday celebrations, it was agreed that an Award would be created to recognize emerging British Fashion Talent in the name of Queen Elizabeth II, to provide a legacy of support for the industry in recognition the role fashion has played throughout The Queen’s Reign and continues to play in diplomacy, culture and communications.
Each year a designer will be selected by the BFC, in collaboration with the Royal Household, to be recognized by this Award.
Caroline Rush CBE, CEO British Fashion Council said: “It is an incredible honour for our industry to be granted this recognition by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. For the honour to be bestowed annually on an emerging designer, in recognition of the UK being the global centre for fashion talent is great recognition for Richard Quinn, as well as the incredible talents that have developed businesses here in the UK, and those that will follow in his footsteps.”
