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Edward Enninful Honoured At British Fashion Awards 2014 for Fashion Creator
Other | Wednesday 26th November 2014 | Kira
Edward Enninful, the Fashion and Style Director for W Magazine, will receive the Isabella Blow Award at this year's ceremony for his "monumental contribution to the global fashion industry".
The fashion stylist is a true source of inspiration for all of us. It feels as if he wasn't chasing fashion, but fashion itself was always looking for someone like him. The Ghana born and London raised future fashion star was fascinated by the colourful patterns and vivid fabrics his mother used to create clothes for her friends, having to support the family by working as a seamstress. At the age of 16, Enninful was spotted by the stylist Simon Foxton. At the time, Enninful didn't even know who he was. But weeks later he was already shooting with him and the legendary photographer Nick Knight. At the modest age of 17, he was introduced to the founders of i-D magazine Trish and Terry Jones. A year later, he got a position as a Fashion Editor, officially becoming the youngest Fashion Director in the history of international publications.
This spirit of youth and innovation has become a trademark of Enninful's work. He shared i-D magazine's obsession with street style and the edgy elegance of his looks featured in the magazine reflected the grunge movement of the early 1990s. He also supported model diversity, which was a major contribution to the international fashion industry, dominated for so long by Caucasian models. In 1998 Enninful became a Contributing Editor to Italian Vogue. He believes that working with the Editor-in-Chief Franca Sozzani and photographer Steven Meisel resulted in him “becoming a proper stylist”. In 2005 he became a Contributing Editor for American Vogue and even made an appearance in The September Issue documentary.
His energy had no limits. After more than a decade of freelancing, Enninful took over a position of Fashion and Style Director of W magazine. He made it his goal to shake up the publication which was suffering under the pressures of the recession at the time. He placed his bets on risky and provocative content, featuring Kate Moss on its cover dressed as a nun and highly open-minded Nicki Minaj as an 18th century French courtesan. Under Enninful's influence, the magazine not only managed to survive, but found its deserved place among the most successful publications of our time.
We can only wonder when the Director finds time to sleep: along with working on restoring the W magazine, Enninful consulted many brands on their advertising campaigns and fashion shows. Fashion giants such as Christian Dior, Calvin Klein and Gucci are among the long list of his famous clients. He puts his heart into everything he does, always remembering his ultimate goal – to support the industry and people involved in it.
Trish and Terry describe their youngest Editor: "Edward’s own individual talent, his absolute loyalty, his encouragement and promotion of other peoples' careers, as well as his love and belief in diversity within the industry, is rare and quite unprecedented. We truly believe that Edward's creative voice, experience and original inspiration fully justify this very prestigious award! ".
We hope that Edward Enninful fascinating career will inspire many young people to be fierce and follow their dreams.
by Kira Kolosova
http://www.edwardenninful.com/
