S.S. Daley Wins Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design

LONDON – Steven Stokey-Daley, founder and creative director of S.S. Daley, has won the 2024 Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design.

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, presented the award to Stokey-Daley during a ceremony at the Royal Academy of Arts on Thursday morning.

“It’s a huge honor and very exciting to have been chosen to receive this award. To join the people who have won this award in the past is very flattering, and very exciting,” said Stokey-Daley.

Stokey-Daley is the seventh recipient of the award, which recognizes young designers who are making a difference to society through either sustainable practices, or community engagement.

Previous winners include Richard Quinn, Bethany Williams, Rosh Mahtani of Alighieri, Priya Ahluwalia, Saul Nash, and Foday Dumbuya of Labrum London.

It was the second time the Duchess of Edinburgh presented the award. In 2021, Sophie, then Countess of Wessex, handed the award to Ahluwalia in a virtual ceremony during lockdown.

The award caps an eventful few years for the designer, who received the LVMH Prize for Young Designers in 2022.

In January, Stokey-Daley presented his fall 2024 collection at Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio as a guest designer of the 105th edition of Pitti Uomo. On the same day, it was announced that Harry Styles had acquired a minority stake in the company.

The pair were introduced by Styles’ stylist Harry Lambert, who created the wardrobe for the artist’s “Golden” music video, outfitting him in Stokey-Daley’s graduate collection.

Over the years, Stokey-Daley’s shows have been memorable affairs. Past events have featured the designer’s friends at the National Youth Theatre performing love letters between Vita Sackville-West and Violet Keppel; and Ian McKellen reading an Alfred Tennyson poem.

S.S. Daley will present its spring 2025 collection, and the first full women’s wear offer, on Sept. 13 during London Fashion Week.

The designer has long had a gender-fluid take on the uniforms of the British upper classes, such as wide-leg trousers, argyle-knit wool vests, and embroidered shirts. His collections appeal to a Gen Z sensibility, and a growing female customer base.

“We’ve always referenced the idea of the royal family and historically we’ve referenced aristocracy in the U.K. My point of view is very different from their point of view. From the beginning, it’s always been more of an observation and a study when referencing the royal family so it’s quite a full-circle moment to be given this award,” said Stokey-Daley

Since 2018, a designer has been selected by the BFC, in collaboration with the Royal Household, for the award. The trophy is inspired by the Queen Elizabeth rose and hand-produced by Lucy Price at Bauhinia Studios and in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.

The award ceremony is a key part of the annual BFC Foundation Impact Announcement Day. The BFC Foundation, the charity arm of BFC, has handed millions of pounds in funds to designers and scholars over the years.

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