The Brit awards (British Record Industry Trusts Show) is a high profile british music award ceremony that recognizes and awards musicians all over the world in different categories. Originating in 1977, the annual awards show has become synonymous with British entertainment culture and has become a coveted award by many in the industry.
In addition to the prestige of being awarded or nominated for the award there is a facet to it that is less talked about and in recent years has featured involvement and contributions from other amazing, talented creatives. Although they are not recognized for their vocal proficiency, their influence on society and popular culture has earned them a place in the Brit Awards' legacy. I’m referring to the design of the iconic statuette itself. A sub-aspect of the ceremony, the statuette has been regularly redesigned by well known British artists, architects, and designers, in some sense becoming its own category, over the years several creatives have been given the honour to add a touch of their own design language to the iconic Britannia model.
With high profile names like Vivienne Westwood, Damien Hirst, Zaha Hadid and a lot more talented artist taking the challenge to redefine the silhouette, two names stand out from the bunch as more contemporary, mainstream designers; Olaoluslawn and Gabriel Moses who have had the honour to share their views on the piece, Slawn in 2023 (as the youngest ever person to design the award) and most recently Gabriel Moses in 2025. Several things stand out as notable parallels in the selection of both creatives, they are both UK based Nigerian “artists” in their own regard and they are closely affiliated with each other as they are increasingly becoming one of the most sought after talents in the industry with both of them scoring huge collaborations with major names like Louis Vuitton, Nike, Ferrari, Rolex and a plethora of organisations. The question of “who’s next?” can't help but arise, considering the list of highly talented UK based, Nigerian creatives whose names are becoming increasingly mainstream and have close relationships with Olaoluslawn and Gabriel Moses.
Picking from the sea of talents Leonard Iheagwam “SoldierBoyfriend” and “Teoni” would fit this category almost perfectly. With an early desire to carve an “unconventional” career path for himself through art, Leo found himself in a circle with Slawn while they were both in Nigeria and since then, from feeding off each other's hustlers spirit he’s become a rapidly growing talent in the UK art scene. “Seeing people around me striving for greatness and doing their best work, I can’t help but think, who am I to not be making the best art of my life?” With collaborations with Dover Street Market and Timberland, his talents are not going unrecognized and it’s only a matter of time before he has the industry in a similar chokehold as the other Brit Awards designers have had.
Miss Teoni Hinds, a London based fine artist with a distinctive art style that sets her work apart as being an apt yet almost comical representation of everyday life has positioned herself for inevitable greatness with influences from her close circle SoldierBoyfriend and Slawn inclusive.
Almost like osmosis she has in her own way paved a way for herself in the art scene and is currently spearheading “BeauBeaus Art Club”, a community-driven space which is facilitating artistic development for others. She has also been involved with well known brands like DR. MARTENS with a commissioned mural for their collaboration with MOTHERLAN. There is a myriad of deserving artists, architects, sculptors and designers who could take up the challenge next and the truth is we don’t have the slightest clue who is designing the Brit Awards next but we’ve seen some sort of a roadmap set by the previous designers and we’ve identified some artists who are in the position to replicate that to certain degree.
Godspeed.
