Kim Jones, Riccardo Tisci and Stella McCartney among winners of virtual Fashion Awards

Kim Jones, Riccardo Tisci and Stella McCartney are among the winners of this year’s first ever virtual Fashion Awards.

Usually hosted at the Royal Albert Hall, with previous guests including Meghan Markle, Rihanna and Julia Roberts, the 2020 British Fashion Awards were held online tonight.

The awards consisted of a 30-minute pre-recorded video celebrating 20 winners across four categories - Community, Creativity, People and Environment - who had inspired and continued to push for change despite the pandemic.

In Community, east Asian brand ASAI, which celebrates culture and heritage through its designs, Chanel, the fashion house that supports social causes, Kenneth Ize, who works with Nigerian artisans, Michael Halpern and the Emergency Designer Network were honoured.

The latter is a group of young designers who set to work during the first wave of the pandemic to create thousands of gowns and scrubs for frontline workers.

Designers Bethany Williams, Cozette McCreery, Holly Fulton and Phoebe English - the group behind the Emergency Designer Network (EDN) - have been working with 40 NHS Trusts and 150 makers since April 2020.

Meanwhile, Halpern featured a number of frontline workers - such as tube drivers and nurses - in his London Fashion Week presentation in September.

In the Creativity section, designers Grace Wales Bonner, who champions black culture in fashion, Jonathan Anderson, who sent people “show in a box” packages rather than a normal catwalk presention due to the pandemic, and Kim Jones of Fendi were all honoured. Riccardo Tisci and his brand Burberry plus Prada, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons were also handed an award.

Anya Hindmarch and Stella McCartney were among the designers to be celebrated for their continued efforts in helping the environment. Christopher Raeburn, Gabriela Hearst and The Fashion Pact completed the section.

In People, which was announced by Lewis Hamilton, Aurora James, who campaigns for systemic change and promotes black-owned businesses in fashion, Edward Enninful the editor of British Vogue - who campaigns for diversity through his publication - plus Lindsay Peoples Wagner and Sandrine Charles were awarded for their campaign work for diversity via the Black in Fashion Council.

Priya Ahluwalia and Samuel Ross completed the list.