THIS IS A VERY SPECIAL ISSUE FOR THE ELLE team and me because it celebrates the great return of the ELLE Style Awards. When I first began my editorship here, more than a year ago, I knew that I wanted to bring this powerful platform back to our world and use it to celebrate the best of British creativity in fashion and culture.
The ELLE Style Awards are an iconic part of our story. They began in London in 2002, and were not simply an awards ceremony, but a highlight of the fashion calendar. I can remember my early days as a young editor and new transplant to the city, trying unsuccessfully to get on the guest list for what was the party of the year.
Now, as we evolve ELLE and propel it into the future, using our platform to create change in the industry, it feels like a fitting time to revive this event. We are excited to have completely refreshed the awards, with help from our headline partner Tiffany & Co, as a celebration of the next generation of British style – women and men who are reimagining British fashion and culture and its values. They include our cover stars, the actors Florence Pugh, who is as dynamic off-camera as she is in front of it; Gemma Chan, a leading and foundational voice in the Stop East + Southeast Asian Hate movement; Ncuti Gatwa, who has made history as the first Black, queer DoctorWho; SukiWaterhouse, breaking through in her music career on top of her acting roles; and the Grammywinning musician Tems, the woman taking over the unstoppable Afrobeats scene.
It wouldn’t be the ELLE Style Awards without the fashion: our winners span its titans and rising stars. For more than 13 years, Sarah Burton, the creative director of Alexander
