The September announcement covered four categories. Nominees are listed alphabetically, as the BFC lists them.

Designer of the Year

For a British or international designer who, in the BFC's words, has "made an outstanding impact on the global fashion industry in 2026".

• Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent

• Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row

• Haider Ackermann for Tom Ford

• Matthieu Blazy for Chanel

• Michael Rider for Celine

• Sarah Burton for Givenchy

British Womenswear Designer of the Year

• Clare Waight Keller for Uniqlo

• Erdem Moralıoğlu for Erdem

• Louise Trotter for Bottega Veneta

• Sarah Burton for Givenchy

• Simone Rocha for Simone Rocha

British Menswear Designer of the Year

• Foday Dumbuya for Labrum

• Kiko Kostadinov for Kiko Kostadinov

• Nick Wakeman for Studio Nicholson

• Simon Holloway for Dunhill

• Simone Rocha for Simone Rocha

Vanguard

For a designer "shaping the future of British fashion".

• Conner Ives

• Ellie Misner

• Steve O Smith

• Tolu Coker

Two names appear twice. Sarah Burton is up for Designer of the Year and British Womenswear Designer, an award she won last year. Simone Rocha is on both the womenswear and the menswear shortlists. FashionNetwork also points out that Jonathan Anderson, who won Designer of the Year three years running, is not on this year's list.

The awards run in two stages.

• The jury A panel of 18 critics, editors, stylists and buyers drew up the shortlists. It includes BFC chief executive Laura Weir, Alice Newbold of British Vogue, Kenya Hunt of ELLE UK, Sarah Mower MBE of Vogue Runway, Murray Clark of British GQ and Teo van den Broeke of Esquire UK, along with buyers from Selfridges, Harrods, Liberty and LN-CC

• The Voting Committee A wider group of industry figures then casts confidential votes to pick the winner in each category

Winners are announced on the night. Pandora is the presenting partner for 2026, with Johnnie Walker and The Peninsula London as official partners, and tickets are sold through the official Fashion Awards website.

Most of the night goes to names that already run major houses. The Vanguard Award is the exception. It looks ahead, recognising a designer at the forefront of a new wave in British fashion, and it gives emerging talent a stage of its own in front of the whole industry.

This year's four nominees, Conner Ives, Ellie Misner, Steve O Smith and Tolu Coker, are each nominated for their own labels. Last year the award went to Dilara Fındıkoğlu.

For anyone working in fashion, the Vanguard shortlist is worth following. These are the labels building their teams, their shows and their campaigns now, and recognition on a night like this puts them in front of the editors, buyers and stylists who sit on the jury.

The 2025 ceremony, also at the Royal Albert Hall and hosted by Colman Domingo, handed out 15 awards. They reached well beyond the four designer categories:

• Model of the Year Anok Yai

• Designer of the Year Jonathan Anderson, his third win in a row

• British Womenswear and Menswear Sarah Burton for Givenchy, and Grace Wales Bonner for Wales Bonner

• Cultural Innovator Award Little Simz

• Costume Designer of the Year Kate Hawley

• Special Recognition Among others, Lulu Kennedy and Raphaelle Moore for 25 years of Fashion East, and the BFC Fashion Trust and its founder Tania Fares

The September announcement for 2026 named nominees in the four designer categories only. The press coverage of it does not say whether honours such as Model of the Year will be announced before the ceremony or on the night, so we will report them when the BFC does.

The Fashion Awards are more than a red carpet. The BFC calls the night the main fundraiser for the BFC Foundation, and its press release describes it as "the world's biggest fashion fundraiser". The Foundation supports the future of British fashion through education, grants and business mentoring. Its programmes include scholarships, BFC NEWGEN, the BFC/Vogue and BFC/GQ Designer Fashion Funds and the BFC Fashion Trust.

That matters to everyone who works on a collection, not just the designer whose name is on it. When a young label gets funding and mentoring, it can stage a show, shoot a lookbook and run a campaign. Each of those needs models, stylists, photographers, hair and make-up artists and creators.

For models and talent, the shortlist is also a quick read of who is shaping the industry this year. Knowing the houses, the designers and the industry terms makes a casting easier to walk into. If you are newer to it, our guide to how castings work is a good place to start.

We will be watching on 30 November, cheering on British design and the next wave coming through it, and we will share the results across our talent and the models we represent once the winners are named.