Peter Pilotto Meadham Kirchhoff Todd Lynn Fashion Forward 2011
Christopher de Vos and Peter Pilotto (L), Todd Lynn (M), Ben Kirchhoff and Edward Meadham (R)

At a ceremony event yesterday the British Fashion Council announced Meadham Kirchhoff, Peter Pilotto And Todd Lynn as winners of this year’s Fashion Forward 2011 award. The win means that the three will get a sponsorship for runway shows both at London Fashion Week Fall 2011 and at London Fashion Week Spring 2012 in February and September.

Sponsored by a London bank Coutts & Co and the London Development Agency, the Fashion Forward awards usually grant a cash prize to one winner to showcase their collections for two seasons. But this year, for the first time three winners were chosen because they are that good.

Peter Pilotto Meadham Kirchhoff Todd Lynn Spring 2011
Meadham Kirchhoff Spring 2011, Todd Lynn Spring 2011, Peter Pilotto Spring 2011

Incidentally, Todd Lynn was a nominee last year as well but the prize ended up going to Louise Goldin. Lynn said, “I am thrilled to have won Fashion Forward for 2011. This will be such a great support to me and my brand both in terms of financial sponsorship and building my business through the mentoring scheme. Additionally, it’s an excellent opportunity to learn more about investing and financial management, which will further strengthen my entrepreneurial endeavors. I am so excited to showcase my AW collection next month, and look forward to working with Coutts over the coming year”.

Meadham Kirchhoff’s Edward Meadham and Ben Kirchhoff are understandably happy as well, “We are both pleased to have been awarded Fashion Forward. It is so important that young talent is appropriately supported in this industry and Fashion Forward gives us the opportunity to further develop our work in a relevant manner.”

And Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos of Perer Pilotto simply said, “With ongoing support from the BFC and Coutts, Fashion Forward will help us reach the next level!”

Past Fashion Forward winners include Christopher Kane, Erdem, Giles Deacon, Jonathan Saunders, Louise Goldin, Marios Schwab, Richard Nicoll, Roksanda Illincic and Sinha-Stanic.