LONDON — Finnerty Mackay and Maxina Brewer took home the L’Oréal Professionnel Creative Award at the annual Central Saint Martins MA Fashion press show. 10 Magazine’s editor in chief, Sophia Neophitou, was the judge for this year’s runway. 

Blending prim wool tailoring with latex shirts and shaggy skirts, Finnerty Mackay said his collection was inspired by addiction.

“I was interested in looking at it as a queer man,” he explained. “Substances are everywhere, especially in London. It’s such a part of the community and so many people’s lives.

“The way that it’s dealt with socially is not in any respect of how troubling it can be for some people and how uplifting it can be for others. So I wanted to look at it as a social problem, instead of a political problem,” he continued.

With deconstructed shapewear and electric colors, Maxina Brewer’s collection celebrated women she admires, while simultaneously examining her identity as a transgender woman.

“My collection was about how I build myself as a woman, as a trans woman, and how I do that from my muses and women I get inspired by,” she said. “I get dysphoria as well as a euphoria, because I’m comparing myself and my body. I think all women have this problem with their bodies becoming trends and society normalizing that.”

Under course leader Fabio Piras, Central Saint Martins’ MA fashion design program has fostered an array of talent, including Charles Jeffrey, Nensi Dojaka, Kiko Kostadinov and Paolo Carzana. 

Last year’s winners, Petra Fagerström and William Palmer, have both gone on to start their own eponymous brands. 

This season, LVMH Prize semifinalist Fagerström will show during London Fashion Week for the first time.