London-based designers Bethany Williams and Christopher Raeburn are the 2024 winners of the international Fabric Of Life Award.

Williams wins Designer of the Year for her gender-neutral designs “focused on social responsibility and environmental awareness”, while Christopher Raeburn receives a Life Achievement Prize for “merging creativity with sustainability”. 

Williams founded her signature label in 2017 creating gender-neutral clothing “with a deep focus on social justice and environmental consciousness”.

Raeburn, meanwhile, “has contributed to redefine fashion by merging design creativity with sustainability”. Through his ‘Remade, Reduced, Recycled’ philosophy, he has transformed upcycled materials into fashionable, functional garments, “proving that environmental responsibility can be integral to high fashion”.

The Fabric Of Life event recognises and honours pioneers in the textile industry for their efforts and achievements in design, sustainability/environment, and innovation and to reward and encourage extraordinary efforts and achievements.

Previous winners include Louise Xin/Designer of the Year (2021), Selam Fessahaye/Designer of the Year and founder Yvon Chouinard and staff of Patagonia/Life Achievement Prize (2022) and Hodakova/Designer of the Year and Sanjeev Bahl the founder of Saitex/Life Achievement Prize (2023).

The award was established by Swedish textile entrepreneur Paul Frankenius as a tribute to Borås and its “significant” textile heritage on the occasion of the city’s 400th anniversary in 2021.