LONDON – Pierpaolo Piccioli Scoops Top Design Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli scooped the highest prize at the Fashion Awards on Monday night at Royal Albert Hall.

Designer of the 12 months is chosen by a world judging panel made up of 1,000 industry figures, and this yr the opposite candidates were Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson and Loewe; Matthieu Blazy for Bottega Veneta; Miuccia Prada.

Demna for Balenciaga had until recently been a candidate for the prize, but he and the brand pulled out of the ceremony because of the continuing controversy over two Balenciaga ad campaigns involving children and pornography.

Each Balenciaga and Demna have apologized for the ads. Demna had been viewed as a frontrunner for the designer award due to his daring, forward-thinking live events, and influence on the industry.

The award is given to a British or international creative whose collections have made “a notable impact on the industry, defining the form of world fashion,” in response to the BFC.

Piccioli made waves this yr for his fall 2022 all-pink collection, sending models out clad in an intense magenta “Pink PP,” a latest Pantone color the designer created himself.

“I desired to work like a monochromatic artist,” said the designer. “When one color, you’ve gotten to go deeper than the surface, to texture, cuts, silhouette, volume and detail. Because I’m not a stylist, I prefer to be a designer.”

He described pink as a color “that may have different sides,” and noted how it will possibly be sweet, sexy, powerful and rebellious.

The Fashion Awards event raises funds for the BFC Foundation, a charity that supports the longer term growth and success of the British fashion industry by specializing in talent, education, grant-giving and business mentoring. The muse also goals to enhance equality and opportunity within the industry.

The BFC said that within the financial yr 2021-22, it remitted greater than 1.3 million kilos in funds to designers and students.