The British Fashion Awards Want to Be the Met Gala, Dammit

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Though the British Fashion Awards attract A-listers (industry and otherwise) like Anna Wintour, Karl Lagerfeld, Lady Gaga, and Alexa Chung, the event is still a bit of a mystery to those on this side of the pond. This year, that changes. The British Fashion Council hopes so, at least.

The BFC, which organizes the annual award ceremony, announced Wednesday that it's making a few major updates to the proceedings, which will take place on December 5 at London's Royal Albert Hall. First, a new name: the Fashion Awards. As that pared-down title suggests, the event will have more of an global slant than it's had in years past, with a renewed emphasis on honoring both British and international designers. The Fashion Awards also have a new purpose: raising money for college scholarships through the British Fashion Council Education Foundation.

And, as Natalie Massenet, the chairman of the BFC and the founder of Net-a-Porter, told Business of Fashion: "It's going to be the most sweeping, beautiful, magical, sparkly, twinkly, elegant red carpet you've ever seen."

Watch your back, Met Gala.

But seriously, we don't doubt that the BFC and Swarovski, which is sponsoring the event, will be doing their darnedest to stock the red carpet with über-famous faces in the same way that Vogue and the Metropolitan Museum of Art do every year. After all, what better way to get people to pay full attention to an industry awards show?