A glance at the British Bangladeshi Fashion & Lifestyle Awards 2022.
The British Bangladeshi Fashion & Lifestyle Awards 2022 were held on December 3rd, 2022. Organised by the British Bangladeshi Fashion Council, and sponsored and supported by the London Tea Exchange, the awards were a celebration and promotion of British Bangladeshi fashion, arts, culture, and businesses that help contribute to the unique multicultural lifestyle of British Bangladeshis and to the broader British society. The event was held at Tower Hotel, Tower Bridge, and was hosted by BBC radio presenters Nadia Ali and Mistal Islah.
The awards that were given out, included Fashion Designer of the Year which went to Naika of London, Journalist of the Year to ITV News’ Shehab Khan, Make-up Artist of the Year to Julie Ali, with Best Male Model of the Year going to Ramzan Miah and Best Female Model of the Year going to Emilia Khandaker. Awards were also given out in a range of other categories in the lifestyle industry – TV/Radio Personality of the Year went to Hashu Mohammed, Music Artist of the Year to went to Tara Lily, Restaurant of the Year went to Darjeeling Express, Wedding Caterer of the Year going to Mint Caterers, amongst other awards.
A number of awards were also given out to international categories, with Fashion Designer of the Year – International going to Sarah Karim, Best Male Model of the Year International going to Nibir Adnan Nahid and Best Female Model of the Year International going to Tangia Zaman Methila.
Special recognition went to Dr Halima Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust for BBFC President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement for her tireless work over the years to tackle racial inequality and injustice, and more recently for her work during covid to ensure that the government and other institutions were factoring in the disproportionate impact that covid was having on BaME communities.
Also, another special recognition went to Maheen Khan for Lifetime Achievement Award, for her decades of work in the Bangladesh fashion industry as well as her work as President of the Fashion Design Council of Bangladesh, promoting Bangladeshi fashion designers, sustainability and heritage textiles and crafts.
According to Fokrul Hoque, CEO of the British Bangladesh Fashion Council, “ The amount of creative talent that we have within the British Bangladeshi community is not highlighted enough, as often the focus is on the achievements in some of the other sectors which have taken a precedent, such as academic and business achievements. These awards are not just about recognizing those who have succeeded and done well in this sector, but also about highlighting and promoting the creative industries as a career choice, as the fashion industry is a £37 billion a year industry and one that is growing fast, with lots of opportunities.” He also added, “We were also delighted to recognize some amazing talents in Bangladesh within the fashion sector. The Bangladesh fashion scene, beyond the Ready Made Garment (RMG) sector, has seen tremendous development over the last few years.’’
The British Bangladeshi Fashion Council (BBFC) is a social enterprise which aims to support people pursuing a career in the fashion industry by providing training, work experiences, mentoring, networking and much more for diaspora Bangladeshis living in the UK. Their annual flagship event, the Bangladesh Fashion Week London, helped showcase the creative talents of Bangladeshis and British-Bangldeshis through fashion.