Inside Rising Star Winner Mia McKenna-Bruce's First BAFTAs

Her first time at the BAFTAs – and at Vogue’s annual Fashion & Film party – called for a special look, and Mia and her stylist, Holly White, eventually settled on a black Carolina Herrera gown with Cartier jewellery. “We talked a lot about Hollywood-movie-star-meets-London-cool-girl, and what that looks like,” White tells Vogue a couple of days before the ceremony. “What happens when Margot Robbie meets Kate Moss on the red carpet? The BAFTAs is the British Oscars, so we set about fusing those two red-carpet cultures and making it Mia.”

McKenna-Bruce has developed a taste for classic black with a cool-girl twist (note the bow-festooned lace Simone Rocha she wore to the BAFTA Gala earlier this week). Her strapless embellished dress for tonight appealed because it’s “elegant, but also cool”, she says. “Then we’re doing some gorgeous Cartier jewellery. I wore Carolina Herrera on the Cannes red carpet and it was just my favourite dress, so this feels like a full circle moment. [Working with] my stylist Holly, she has just been absolutely incredible… especially after having a baby when you’re getting to know your body again.”

Comfort was high on the agenda for both women as they narrowed down the options for Mia’s big BAFTAs moment. “The main thing people have said to me is that it’s important to feel confident,” says Mia. White agrees. “If I’ve done my job then my client shouldn’t be worried about anything to do with their outfit. Their confidence should radiate.” Given that it was perhaps the biggest night of this talented young star’s career to date, White was determined to help make it a “magical moment”. “I really wanted her to be able to look back five, 10 or 30 years from now, and feel as excited then as she does now about the look. It needed to stand the test of time.”

The stylist’s other solid tip for her red-carpet clients? “Have fun is always my closing line when they walk out the door,” she says. That’s unlikely to prove a problem for the ebullient Mia McKenna-Bruce, who was as excited about the snacks as the ceremony when she spoke to Vogue in the run-up to her big night. “We’ve ordered in Nando’s for the whole team.”