This year’s Fashion Awards nominations signal more than glitter and red carpets; they reflect a tectonic shift in representation across British fashion. Black designers are stepping into the spotlight with an energy and vision that can’t be contained. From Martine Rose’s nod for Designer of the Year to three Black nominees in Menswear, and under-the-radar but essential contenders in the Vanguard Award, this is a moment worth seeing; not just for what’s being rewarded, but for what it represents.

Designer of the Year

Martine Rose

Martine Rose isn’t just a designer; she’s a confidante to icons and a translator of cultural nuance. The British-Jamaican creative behind her eponymous label has long drawn from rave, hip-hop, punk, and the subcultural textures of 90s London, reimagining menswear with off-kilter proportions and fluid gender codes.

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Her Spring/Summer 2025 collection carried that signature subversion: tailored skirts, chap-style trousers, and moto-boob dresses in silks and netting, all delivered with the unsettling ease that defines her aesthetic. And earlier this year, her vision reached one of the world’s biggest stages when Kendrick Lamar wore her custom varsity leather jacket at the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show. More than fashion, the piece was an emblem: “GLORIA” stitched on the front, nods to Lamar’s album, and symbols layered like lyrics; a manifesto worn, not spoken.

Their collaboration is no accident. Rose has crafted looks for Lamar’s Grammy win, his Not Like Us video, and even a collaborative merch drop for The Hillbillies. “His work is rooted in people’s experience; that’s the way I approach collections, too,” she noted, underlining the empathy and authenticity that shape her partnerships.

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This nomination is proof of her singular voice. Martine Rose’s work resists simplification; it’s subculture rendered as couture: tactical, irreverent, and tender all at once.

British Menswear Designer of the Year

The British Menswear Designer category this year tells its own story: three Black designers nominated side by side, rewriting what visibility in this space can look like.

Foday Dumbuya (Labrum London)

Foday Dumbuya is on a mission to reimagine the contours of British identity through the lens of diasporic heritage. Labrum London’s *AW 25 collection, “Designed by an Immigrant: Sound of Us,” staged at London’s Abbey Road Studios, was a fusion of music, migration, and sartorial storytelling. Visually and viscerally, it celebrated immigrant narratives through cowrie-dripped adidas stripes, layered utility tailoring, and an immersive performance from grime legends like Ghetts and D Double E.

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Earlier in the year, his SS 25 “Journey of Triumphs” took place inside Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. The brand collaborated with Adidas and Arsenal to launch the 2024/25 away kit; blending sport, community, and poetry, with spoken word, spotlighted Arsenal players, and cultural presenters giving runway a whole new language.

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Dumbuya’s narrative goes beyond the catwalk. At LFW, he spoke about how “African history is global history,” and the show’s models wore statement Afro-textured hairstyles: Bantu knots, freeform locs, and braided cylinders; mirroring the collection’s flag for cultural convergence.

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Grace Wales Bonner (Wales Bonner)

Grace Wales Bonner’s work continues to redefine luxury with layered storytelling and cultural resonance. Her Spring/Summer 2025 adidas Originals collaboration leans into “the crossroads between urban grit and coastal calm,” pairing elevated tracksuits and anoraks with the debut of the WB Karintha, her first fully original sneaker silhouette, released in both sequined and suede finishes. It marked a pivotal moment in sneaker culture.

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Her AW 25 womenswear collection - her most personal yet; reflects a softer but confident exploration of feminine expression, balancing "toughness and softness" through rugged leather coats, knitwear, and nuanced tailoring.

Meanwhile, her AW 25 menswear, titled Selah, was an introspective ode to the act of making. The collection stayed rooted in tailoring while weaving in history, craft, and collaborative spirit.

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Grace Wales Bonner isn't just a designer; she’s a curator of narratives. Her academic voice, cultural exhibitions, and scholarship work, like her Serpentine projects and her role at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, amplify the intention behind the clothes, ensuring that representation is never superficial.

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Nicholas Daley (Nicholas Daley)

Nicholas Daley's work feels like wearable heritage, steeped in diasporic spirituality and music. His SS 2025 collection, “Sacred Drums,” draws from Jamaican Nyabinghi drumming, blending attentively faded tones and textures to evoke garments that feel passed down through generations.

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His AW 25 lineup, “Island Ties,” merges crochet, tartan, and traditional rugby fits—pulling from both sides of his Jamaican and Scottish identity. It’s cultural craftsmanship given form through garment and pattern.

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And recently, he launched his Clarks Originals x Nicholas Daley Wallabee: a deeply personal collaboration that connects back to his grandfather, who made shoes in Jamaica.

Vanguard Award (Rising Voices)

This newly added category recognizes boundary-pushing designers shaping the future of British fashion. Among nominees, the Black designers stand out:

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Feben Vemmenby (Feben)

A London-based Ethiopian designer and Central Saint Martins graduate (and Isabella Blow Scholar), Feben is known for surreal silhouettes and optical-illusion prints that explore themes of Black identity and displacement. Her work blends striking forms with a deep sense of resilience and femininity.

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Her AW25 collection, Staunch, uplifted a spirit of determined femininity. Named after Little Edie’s term in Grey Gardens, it debuted at a London Fashion Week dinner accompanied by an intimate performance from Jorja Smith. Earlier, her SS25 collection, Reign, reinforced her reputation as a classically trained storyteller with a distinctly modern edge.

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Tolu Coker

British-Nigerian designer Tolu Coker is shaping narratives through tailoring, textile, and personal heritage. A Central Saint Martins alum, she honed her craft at J.W. Anderson, Celine, and Maison Margiela before launching her label in 2018.

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Her SS 25 collection "Olapeju" was a poignant tribute to her mother, blending British-Nigerian culture through silhouettes infused with emotional weight.

Her AW 25 debut felt equally potent; spanning cinched tailoring and layered textures, delivered with evocative staging (models held cotton stalks, with Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit playing), anchoring diasporic narratives in fashion design.

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Beyond her creative voice, Coker has been recognized as a semi-finalist in the LVMH Prize, where she framed her achievement as more than validation, it’s equity.

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Torishéju Dumi

Torishéju Dumi is a force emerging from Paris. Her SS 25 collection, La Nef Des Fous (“The Ship of Fools”), staged a haunting narrative of opulent chaos—fops, dandies, and jesters aboard a sinking vessel. The garments, ornately disheveled, reflected collapse through fashion: fabrics torn mid-descent, floating, heavy with entropy.

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Her trajectory has been fast, and high-profile. For her debut runway show, the Shangri-La’s golden ballroom hosted Naomi Campbell opener and Paloma Elsesser closer; signaling immediate impact. Her custom look for Zendaya during the Dune: Part Two tour and the acquisition of her Mami Wata capsule by The Met underlined that vision is being institutionally acknowledged.

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