Designers Harris Reed and Brunello Cucinelli win big at British GQ’s 2021 Man of the Year Awards

Harris Reed won Breakthrough Designer of the Year at British GQ‘s Man of the Year Awards on September 1st, held at the Tate Modern Art Museum in London. Actress Emma Corrin, who has recently won acclaim for her portrayal of the late Princess Diana in “The Crown,” presented the award while wearing a custom look by the designer.  On his Instagram page, Reed effused:

So I won breakthrough designer of the year last night at #TheGQawards and I haven’t been able to stop crying and smiling.

Thank you @emmalouisecorrin for presenting me this honour and wearing my first dress design.

“There was once a 9 year old kid who was so badly bullied that their classmates parents had them pulled from the class. These parents were scared of their kids “catching the gay” or just simply because being different was not something deemed as acceptable. That little kid dreamt of a place where they would feel loved and accepted. I dreamt that one day I would be part of a movement in fashion that opens peoples eyes to being an accepting safe and powerful environment. Here I am today. This award isn’t for me. This award is for all kids out there who are being told to conform. That their dreams are not realistic. That no one will love them for being exactly who they are and are born to be. This award symbolises a change in the world of fashion. The saga of categories and expectations is over. Now is the time of being exactly who the f— you are and never ever EVER apologising for it.”

Meanwhile, Brunello Cucinelli received the Designer of the Year award. The Italian menswear brand was praised by the fashion magazine for its ability to boost revenues following the pandemic, up 60 percent in the first half of 2021, as well as the fact the designer didn’t make any of his 2,000 global employees redundant during the coronavirus crisis. Cucinelli was presented his award by actor Jonathan Bailey, who said that the designer’s name was “synonymous with Italian excellence”.

In his acceptance speech, Brunello Cucinelli said:

I would like to dedicate my award to the minds and hearts of women and men of every epoch, and from every corner of the world, and to my teachers whose enlightened words taught me a universal vision of the world, and that humanistic capitalism which is so kindly and widely attributed to me.

Through it and our work, we have discovered and nurtured the moral and economic dignity of humans, gentle economic growth, harmony between profit and generosity, and respect for Creation, a small part of which I feel I have been called upon to be a faithful and caring guardian. Thank you all.

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Photo Credit:  Jeff Bukowski / Shutterstock.com