The Duchess of Sussex made a surprise appearance at this year’s British Fashion Awards – to present a prize to the designer of her wedding dress.
Clare Waight Keller, artistic director at Givenchy, was named womenswear designer of the year at the event.
The Duchess said Waight Keller was “leading on the global stage with vision and creativity”.
“When I met her for the first time 11 months ago I knew we would be working very closely together,” she added.
Meghan, who wore a one-shouldered black Givenchy gown for the occasion, paid tribute to Waight Keller’s “incredible kindness” at the Royal Albert Hall ceremony.
The Birmingham-born designer became the first female artistic director of French fashion house Givenchy in 2017.
In her acceptance speech, Waight Keller thanked the Duchess for trusting in her when it came to making her wedding dress.
“To have someone like that trust you in an incredible moment in their life is something that is just the most unbelievable honour,” she said. “I can’t thank you enough.”
Other big winners of the night included Italian fashion house Gucci, which won brand of the year. Its president and CEO, Marco Bizzarri, also picked up the business leader award.
Dame Vivienne Westwood, winner of the positive change award, used her acceptance speech to claim she had a plan to save the world from “climate change and financial crash”.
