London Fashion Week has come and gone, but at ELLE UK, we continue to celebrate homegrown British talent, designers and brands all year round. It’s one of the reasons we hosted an intimate dinner with some of the best-known and lauded creatives from the fashion and arts industry on Wednesday evening, at Sessions Art Club in Clerkenwell, London.
Celebrities in attendance on the night included former ELLE UK cover stars Letitia Wright and Marisa Abela (who reunited with her Industry co-star Harry Lawtey at the event), as well as rising Rivals star Bella Maclean (the event marked her first public outing since the Disney+ drama aired), Heartstopper’s Yasmin Finney, football pundit and former Lioness Alex Scott, radio presenter Clara Amfo, designers Conner Ives, Feben, Chet Lo and much more.
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As a playlist of tunes by Solange, former ELLE UK cover star Little Simz and Jungle played, guests arrived in style in cars provided by BMW at the prestigious London venue for a drinks reception to sip on magnums of Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut, before sitting down to dinner cooked by Abigail Hill – aka London’s buzziest chef – and her team.
Guests were invited to wear a British designer to celebrate the industry and saw Letitia Wright in Grace Wales Bonner, Marisa Abela in Nensi Dojaka, ELLE UK’s Contributing Editor Camille Charrière wearing a design by Connor Ives, Amfo dressed in Feben, model Tess McMillan donning Sinéad O’Dwyer, and Editor-in-Chief of ELLE UK Kenya Hunt in Marco Capaldo’s 16Arlington.
Table settings, inspired by the Dutch Masters, featured autumnal florals, fruits and candles, while dishes included figs and soft cheese, grilled pollock and soft risotto, finished with a moreish chocolate torte. Guests also received jewellery from Mejuri and a scent or candle from the luxury beauty Grace de Monaco, which has partnered with ELLE UK to launch the Generation Next bursary.
The bursary will see creatives have the chance to present their work to a judging panel, with the winner revealed ahead of next February’s London Fashion Week. They’ll also receive a mentorship opportunity with business leaders.
Hunt greeted guests at the dinner, and spoke of the challenges and changes faced by the fashion industry in 2024.
‘It’s been a year filled with massive highs and crushing lows, beautiful beginnings and bittersweet endings — and throughout it all, it’s you who have inspired the ELLE team and I with your vision,’ she said. ‘For almost four decades, ELLE has chronicled and championed British creativity, and this year — with all its challenges — felt like a particularly important time to stop, reflect and pay tribute to what makes our fashion community so strong.’
Addressing the room of creatives, she added: ‘You represent the future and what is to come. You create and reimagine worlds. And long may that last. At ELLE we want to make a positive contribution and in that spirit, I’m excited to announce that we will be launching a bursary, the Generation Next prize, in partnership with Grace de Monaco, which will go to a young rising designer.’
Applications for the ELLE Generation Next Bursary will go live on November 5 2024.
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