LONDON – Patrick McDowell, founder and inventive director of his namesake label, has gained the 2025 Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design.
Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, offered the award to McDowell throughout a ceremony at 180 Studios on Tuesday as a part of the BFC Basis influence announcement day.
The area was arrange as a vogue studio with staff in white coats doing fittings on fashions, embroidering on material, and explaining the design to Middleton, who opted for an olive inexperienced patch pocket blazer with matching trousers by Victoria Beckham for the event.
McDowell, wearing a gray Prince of Wales test swimsuit constructed from deadstock material equipped by Burberry, is the eighth recipient of the award, which acknowledges younger designers who’re making a distinction by sustainable practices or neighborhood engagement.
Earlier winners of the award are Richard Quinn, Bethany Williams, Rosh Mahtani of Alighieri, Priya Ahluwalia, Saul Nash, Foday Dumbuya of Labrum London, and Steven Stokey-Daley of S.S. Daley.
McDowell has championed sustainable vogue since he unveiled his label at London Trend Week in 2018 after graduating from London’s Central Saint Martins.
Over time, he has teamed with new materials and biotech corporations to create experimental vogue. He turns surplus and deadstock materials from manufacturers together with Burberry and Swarovski, and archival outfits and materials from establishments equivalent to Rambert, Britain’s oldest dance firm, into trendy creations.
Girl Gaga, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Keira Knightley have all worn his designs.
The designer can also be a participant within the BFC’s Low Carbon Transition Program, an initiative led by the BFC’s Institute of Optimistic Trend, created to assist educate London-based companies on decarbonizing provide chains.
The designer stated that having the Princess of Wales, who has not too long ago taken on extra public duties after present process most cancers remedy final yr, hand the award to him felt “unbelievable.”
The designer stated in an interview that seeing “two unbelievable establishments within the U.Okay., the royal household and the British Trend Council, utilizing their platforms to assist my small, round luxurious model is an unbelievable accolade.”
He added: “I do know [the princess] is personally very involved in British craftsmanship. It means so much to me. It’s an award that’s centered round craftsmanship and sustainable follow, which is one thing really on the coronary heart of what we do. I hope that it’s going to assist propel the enterprise ahead, will open many extra doorways and eyes to what we’re doing.”
McDowell works with a direct-to-consumer mannequin, providing made-to-order items starting from 800 kilos to three,000 kilos, a worth level he considers very aggressive. His crew is lean – simply 4 individuals – and he caters to shoppers from world wide.
He stated his shoppers are “in search of one thing distinctive, and the concept is to present individuals one thing for a similar worth as an off-the-peg design, however they get this particular expertise.”
The model reveals sporadically throughout London Trend Week, and doesn’t at all times observe the seasonal calendar.
“Whatever the collections, the principle factor is that we’re specializing in the craftsmanship and making an attempt to make items that match and swimsuit the individuals carrying them, so that they’re capable of cherish them for for much longer. We additionally provide providers like restore and redesign on these items after buy, so shoppers can maintain loving them,” stated McDowell.
McDowell stated his shoppers are typically individuals who have already got an unbelievable wardrobe and who need one thing with a bit extra individuality.
“All of our items are numbered, and made in extraordinarily small portions. You get your title and the quantity embroidered into the labels. It’s extra like a dressmaker relationship with the shoppers. Folks wish to meet the individual making the garments. They need all these tales connected to the items that they’re carrying,” he added.
McDowell has additionally labored in different inventive fields, and at all times by a sustainable lens. Throughout COVID-19, he delivered a high-drama digital runway present for Helsinki Trend Week. In 2022, he designed a backyard bar impressed by Studio 54 for the Chelsea Flower Present.
He has company expertise, too. In 2021, he was appointed sustainability design director at Pinko, a five-year collaboration that lasted till December 2024. There, McDowell was tasked with making the model extra sustainable, along with Pinko founder and CEO Pietro Negra.
Since 2018, the BFC has chosen a designer, in collaboration with the Royal Family, for the award. The trophy is impressed by the Queen Elizabeth rose and is hand-produced by Lucy Value at Bauhinia Studios in Birmingham’s Jewelry Quarter.
The award ceremony was a part of the annual BFC Basis influence announcement day, which additionally unveiled the recipients of a number of different BFC-led assist schemes.
New additions to the BFC Newgen program included Aletta, Ewusie, Liza Keane, Oscar OuYang, Octi, and The Ouze.
Conner Ives was the winner of the BFC/Vogue Designer Trend Fund, whereas the BFC/GQ Designer Trend winner might be chosen from Bleue Burnham, Clothsurgen, Harri, Labrum London, and Saul Nash.
Recipients of the BFC Trend Belief included Clio Peppiatt, Edeline Lee, Harri, Nicholas Daley, and Tove.
The BFC Basis, the charity arm of BFC, has handed out 1.2 million kilos in funds to designers and students within the monetary yr 2024/25. As well as, greater than 270,000 kilos was distributed to designers through business collaborations secured by the BFC.
