The British Fashion Council (BFC) is delighted to announce a brand new category as part of The Fashion Awards 2021—the first ever Fashion Award for Metaverse Design exclusively with Roblox and its first winner, cSapphire. This new award recognises a digital designer who pushes the boundaries and showcases excellence in digital fashion design within the metaverse. Five digital fashion creators from the Roblox community were shortlisted for the Award by Roblox’s developers and creators*. Alessandro Michele, Creative Director of Gucci, will make an appearance as an avatar to present the award in The Fashion Awards experience on Roblox.

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Alessandro Michele, Creative Director of Gucci, presents the first ever Fashion Award for Metaverse Design in The Fashion Awards experience on Roblox. (Photo: Business Wire)

The five nominees were: cSapphire, GENKROCO, inkwaves, Reverse_Polarity, Sparklings.

cSapphire was chosen by a judging panel made up of BFC Chief Executive Caroline Rush, Supermodel and Entrepreneur Karlie Kloss, Highsnobiety Editorial Director Christopher Morency, Dazed Fashion Features Director Emma Davidson, and W Magazine Editor-in-Chief Sara Moonves.

To celebrate the launch of the award, the BFC has created an immersive experience on Roblox which offers fashion fans from all over the world the opportunity to be part of its iconic annual event that gathers some of the most influential fashion insiders, designers, innovators and celebrities. The experience instantly transports visitors into the iconic Royal Albert Hall where they can enjoy one of the world’s biggest celebrations of fashion in a new and unique way, walking the virtual red carpet together with their friends, exploring nominees’ displays and trying on their virtual items, as well as watching Awards video footage. The Fashion Awards immersive experience on Roblox is available on the platform starting November 29th and until December 7th, 2021.

Visitors to The Fashion Awards experience on Roblox will also be able to purchase a range of digital items created exclusively for this event by Gucci. Proceeds from these items’ sales will be donated to the BFC Foundation, the charity that supports the future growth and success of the British fashion industry by focusing on education, grant-giving and mentoring.

Caroline Rush, BFC Chief Executive commented: “As we continue to reposition The Fashion Awards as a global entertainment platform, we are so excited to announce this project with Roblox. By awarding the platform’s creators we are recognising the powerful global impact of digital fashion on communities around the world, its ability to create new trends in fashion, as well as the incredible opportunities it provides for talented young creators. I was blown away by the work, and creativity of all the nominees and am looking forward to exploring The Fashion Awards experience in the metaverse.”

Christina Wootton, VP of Global Brand Partnerships, Roblox said: “The next generation of designers are dressing avatars, and they are doing it on Roblox where anyone can be a creator, starting with their own digital identity. Fashion is about what’s next and finding new voices with clear visions, and this talent is emerging in the metaverse. It is the global creative space for designers who are bringing limitless self-expression opportunities to people around the world, setting new trends that are starting to move into real life, and sharing their expertise with top brands. This recognition from a powerful fashion institution declares loud and clear that this is the space to watch for future fashion trends and talent.”

The Fashion Awards is a fundraiser for the BFC Foundation (Registered Charity Number: 1185152) which supports the future growth and success of the British fashion industry by focusing on Talent, Education, Grant-Giving and Business Mentoring and aims to improve equality and opportunity so that the fashion industry remains diverse and open to all, helping talented designers at all stages of their career from school level through to becoming a global fashion brand. In 2020/21, the BFC raised £1.7 million for the BFC Foundation, and its talent support initiatives and this year the charity supported 33 designers.

*Roblox’s Bloxy Academy is a committee consisting of Roblox community developers and content creators who annually nominate and vote on Bloxy Awards, Roblox's own awards celebrating top developers on the platform.

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About the nominees

cSapphire

cSapphire is a 2D designer who started creating designs on the platform aged 12. They were one of the first designers to work with a physical clothing brand on the platform with their Gucci collaboration.

GENKROCO

GENKROCO is a creator who specialises in virtual accessories and hairstyles for avatars, particularly known for stylised hairstyles. Their most purchased hairstyle has over 2 million sales alone, with their full store accumulating over 30 million sales.

inkwaves

inkwaves is a 3D designer who uses creativity to inspire their digital fashion creations, mixing modern trends with enchanted and mystical themes. They’ve created one of the most favourited UGC items in the Roblox Marketplace and describe the opportunity to work as a designer in the metaverse as “infinite imagination.”

Reverse_Polarity

Reverse_Polarity is a 3D designer with over 17 million combined sales of their creations on the platform, making them one of the top sellers of virtual items on Roblox. Having discovered Roblox just two weeks after its public release in 2006, they are one of the longest active users of the platform.

Sparklings

Sparklings is a 2D designer and joined the platform in 2009. Their design aesthetic is ever-changing with recent collections ranging in inspiration from high end designs to the fairy kei aesthetic.

About British Fashion Council

The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a not-for-profit organisation set up in 1983 with the role to strengthen British fashion in the global economy as a leader in responsible, creative businesses. It does this through championing diversity and building and inviting the industry to actively participate in a network to accelerate a successful circular fashion economy. The BFC promotes British fashion internationally and does so through fashion weeks, exhibitions and showcasing events. The BFC helps British designer businesses develop their profile and business globally and supports fashion talent beginning at college level, extending to talent identification, business support and showcasing schemes. The BFC Foundation (Registered Charity Number: 11852152) was created in 2019 for charitable purposes and grant giving; attracting, developing, and retaining talent through education and business mentoring. The BFC has donated £1,500,000 from the surplus that was generated from its activities over the past two years, including those generated from The Fashion Awards. Combined with the fundraising efforts of all its talent support initiatives and a call to BFC stakeholders to support fundraising to help businesses survive the COVID crisis, total donations of £3.2m have been received by the BFC Foundation to date. The BFC Foundation offers support to designers through four talent identification and business support schemes: BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund, BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund, NEWGEN in partnership with TikTok and the BFC Fashion Trust. With the support of the BFC Colleges Council, the BFC Foundation offers BA and MA scholarships to students, as well as links with industry through design competitions and Graduate Preview Day. In 2020, the BFC launched the Institute of Positive Fashion (IPF), with the aim to help the British fashion industry lead in the goal to be more resilient and circular through global collaboration and local action.

The BFC showcasing initiatives and events include London Fashion Week Presented by Clearpay taking place every February, June and September; LONDON show ROOMs and the annual celebration of creativity and innovation in the fashion industry: The Fashion Awards.

The Fashion Awards Partners are: Principal Partner: TikTok; Official Partners: American Express, Flannels, Getty Images, Moët & Chandon, Roblox, Royal Salute and The Londoner for their ongoing support.

For more information visit: britishfashioncouncil.co.uk / londonfashionweek.co.uk / instituteofpositivefashion.com

About BFC Foundation

Formed in 2019, the BFC Foundation (Registered Charity Number: 1185152) brings all of the BFC’s charitable initiatives under one umbrella supporting the future growth and success of the British fashion industry by focusing on education, grant-giving and business mentoring.

The BFC Foundation aims to create pathways to support British fashion talent while addressing the need for continuous and growing support to increase the diversity of the talent pool and support businesses that are leading the way in terms of environmental and community impact. Since its inception in 2019, the BFC Foundation received total donations of £3,200,000 through fundraising efforts of all its talent support initiatives; funds from the BFC surplus generated from the organisation's activities including The Fashion Awards; and a call to BFC stakeholders to support fundraising to help businesses survive the COVID crisis. The BFC Foundation aims to raise £2,000,000 per annum to maintain and grow its grant-giving programmes.

The Co-Chairs of the BFC Foundation are Tania Fares and Narmina Marandi and the Trustees are Stephanie Phair, Chairman; Caroline Rush CBE, Chief Executive Officer and Laura Strain, Chief Operating Officer of the British Fashion Council. The BFC Foundation has an International Advisory Committee which supports the work of the charity as well as an influential Patronage Programme.

For more information visit: britishfashioncouncil.com/BFC-Foundation

About Roblox

Roblox is reimagining the way people come together to connect, create, and express themselves through immersive, interactive shared experiences. Every day, over forty million people around the world play, learn, communicate, and expand their friendships as they explore millions of user-generated digital experiences, all built by creators on the platform. Our mission is to connect billions of users with civility and optimism, and support a safe and diverse community—one that inspires and fosters creativity and positive relationships among people around the world. For more information, please visit corp.roblox.com.

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