OXFORDSHIRE, United Kingdom — After three days of intimate gatherings, riveting talks and stunning trade revelations on stage, the ninth version of BoF VOICES concluded with its annual Gala.
Company filed right into a cavernous, candle lit glasshouse, posing for photos with pals previous and new on the crimson carpet earlier than the night’s programme started, the place they toasted every week nicely spent within the picturesque English countryside.
As many individuals — VOICES veterans and first timers alike — mirrored on the times passed by, they settled on a standard theme: change.
Denis Okwera, mannequin and founding father of the Lumule Basis, mentioned: “Everybody right here is working to make the world a greater place in their very own means.”
“I hope we lastly resolve to simply accept that the world isn’t black or white — there are 700 shades of gray,” added French drag queen Nicky Doll, who elicited raucous laughter and uninterrupted focus from the viewers packed into the auditorium earlier Thursday.
As friends loved their meals and a shifting efficiency from saxophonist Cktrl, one other profitable 12 months at Soho Farmhouse drew to a detailed. As BoF founder and chief govt Imran Amed addressed the gala, he requested a couple of attendees what their key takeaway was from the previous days.
The phrases “freedom” and “hope” have been repeatedly referenced by these referred to as upon, together with photographer Giles Duley, efficiency artist and designer Alok Menon and former mannequin, agent and advocate Bethann Hardison.
As most of the talks this week referenced, turmoil within the vogue trade and the world at giant requires unity and collective motion from creatives and enterprise executives alike.
“This 12 months particularly, when there may be a lot happening on this planet, our responsibility as artists is to start out sure conversations and now greater than ever it’s essential to have area for that right here,” mentioned poet and trans visibility activist Kai Isaiah Jamal, whose shifting efficiency opened the ultimate content material session of the week earlier on Thursday.
BoF VOICES 2024 is made attainable partially by our companions Store with Google, Amazon Vogue, McKinsey & Firm, Getty Pictures, Soho Home, Blacklane and Penfolds. In case you are keen on studying about partnership alternatives for 2025, please contact us right here.
