Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh's surprise London Fashion Week moment as S.S. Daley wins Queen Elizabeth II award

London fashion label S.S. Daley today won the Queen Elizabeth II award for fashion design.

The prize was presented at the Royal Academy of Arts by Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh , to the designer behind the brand, Steven Stokey-Daley. The annual award was established in 2018 to recognise the role the fashion industry plays in society and diplomacy, and to spotlight young designers who are talented and making a difference to society through either sustainable practices or community engagement.

London-based Liverpudlian designer Stokey-Daley said: “It is such a huge honour.”

The news marks further success for S.S. Daley, which in January announced that Harry Styles, an early Daley supporter who wore looks from his University of Westminster graduate collection back in 2020, had bought a minority stake in the business . Other A-list fans include actors Dan Levy, Ian McKellen and Eddie Redmayne. It also comes after S.S. Daley secured the coveted €300,000 LVMH Prize for young fashion designers in 2022.

Stokey-Daley, 26, has been touted as a possible candidate to be the next creative director of Burberry. “We have built a universe with S.S. Daley…[and] there is also something really exciting about the idea of dipping into a different brand’s narrative and fleshing out a completely different universe in a similar way,” he said.

The inaugural Queen Elizabeth II award was presented by the late Queen to designer Richard Quinn at London Fashion Week in February 2018 after watching her first ever fashion show. Other previous winners include Bethany Williams, Rosh Mahtani, Priya Ahluwalia, Saul Nash and, last year, the King presented Foday Dumbuya with the award for his brand Labrum.

London Fashion Week starts today, Thursday 12 September, and runs to Tuesday 17 September

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