President of the 2023 SILMO D’OR awards, Nicolas Fafiotte,
Fashion designer for exceptional occasions,
Nicolas Fafiotte,
A graduate of the ESMOD School of Fashion Design (First Prize in the Haute Couture category), Nicolas Fafiotte trained in Paris – particularly with Emmanuel Ungaro – before moving to Lyon in the early 2000s.
He opened his design workshop, offering bespoke wedding dresses and evening gowns, just off Place Bellecour. He crafts “exceptional garments for exceptional occasions that express celebration,” in his words.
The designer wins clients over with his sense of style and his exacting perfectionism. The champion of French-style savoir-faire has a talent for designing sublime gowns that impressed Sylvie Tellier, Miss Lyon 2001, who became Miss France 2002 the same year. Brought into the spotlight and indeed flung to centre stage of the fashion world, he in turn became a loyal supporter of the extensively covered national competition, creating