Thomas Tait wins Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize

Let us introduce you to the fashion crowd's latest find - Thomas Tait. The 22 year old designer was unveiled as the winner of this year's Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize last night - handpicked by Manolo Blahnik and Giles Deacon no less.

Tait fought off competition from four other designers - Mary Katrantzou, Louise Goldin, Chau Har Lee and Hermione de Paula - to bag himself a £25,000 prize, and he'll be able to stage a show at a Dorchester Collection hotel.

He wowed the expert panel of judges with his beautifully made, minimalist tailoring, all perfect curves, invisible seams and sculptural shapes. Manolo Blahnik (who must have had divided loyalties - he made the shoes for Louise Goldin's collection) thinks he's destined for great things, saying 'Thomas has got an incredible couture mind and will come up as one of the few couturiers.'

While we're sure you'd love to run out and buy his pieces now we're sorry to report that you can't - at the moment he only creates one-offs to order. But his aim is to produce a commercial collection in the not too distant future, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that the prize money helps him on his way.

See more by Thomas Tait at thomastait.com