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.
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, recognised 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 recognise 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 recognised by this Award.
The Award, designed by Angela Kelly, inspired by the Queen Elizabeth rose, has been hand-produced by Lucy Price at Bauhinia Studios and in Birmingham's famous jewellery quarter.
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.”
Sarah Mower MBE, BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent said: “This new honour from Her Majesty is a truly historic landmark which offers encouragement for the aspirations of creative and entrepreneurial young British people for generations to come. Richard Quinn, a Londoner and alumnus of Central Saint Martins MA of the class of 2016, exemplifies the excellence of UK fashion education. In addition to the colourful optimism of his collections, his simultaneous setting up of his open-access print works in Peckham demonstrates a community-minded business sense which is contributing to the present and future of British fashion manufacturing. I congratulate Richard for cementing this link between fashion and British industry, and for being the first recipient of this momentous recognition.”