An Inside Look at the Soho House Awards 2022

The red carpet was well and truly rolled out last night for the inaugural Soho House Awards. Held in partnership with Sky at London’s 180 House on the Strand, the event drew a constellation of emerging and established talents. We raised Patrón Picantes with Evan Mock, Self Esteem, Michaela Coel, Lena Waithe and Daniel Kaluuya to name a few. The event also served as a reminder of how special it is to share a space with actors and entrepreneurs, designers and artists, writers and poets: the most remarkable creative minds from a generation who know how to bring the House down. 

The awards took place on the top floor of 180 House. A soulful and intimate affair, the crowd spilled out onto the terrace and conversations flowed. Elmgreen & Dragset (the artistic duo responsible for putting a Prada boutique in the Marfa desert) agreed that Picantes are ‘actually not bad’, while Gangs of London director Corin Hardy pointed out that the softly-lit pool would be perfect for a cinematic murder scene. Hmm.

The actor, director, cocktail connoisseur and Oscar-nominee Stanley Tucci took on the role of the master of ceremonies for the evening. Sadly, he didn’t demonstrate how to make a Picante on stage, but he did hand out plenty of signature Barwell cut-crystal rocks glasses – this time in the form of Golden Picante awards for winners in all 10 categories. 

While each winner only had 60 short seconds for their on-stage acceptance speech, there was plenty of emotion crammed in. Yasmin Finney (Breakthrough Actress) dedicated her award to the Trans community and all those who were told they would never make it. Anson Boon (Breakthrough Actor) admitted to joining Soho House when he realised that he was overstaying his welcome in various coffee shops in Soho after beginning to audition for roles at the age of 18 (an upgrade indeed). 

‘This environment is infectious, it makes you believe you can fly,’ said Emmanuel Eribo upon collecting an award for Breakthrough Entrepreneur. Michaela Coel and Paapa Essiedu shared an emotional embrace on stage; Harris Reed teared up, and Hussain Manawer read his boundary-breaking poetry while standing on top of the bar. The winning actor John Boyega stated simply: ‘It’s good to be home’ – a feeling shared by all in the room.  

The Soho House Awards celebrates emerging talents and established household names across music, film, fashion, design, literature and entrepreneurship. Check out the full the list of winners here and see the highlights of the night below.

The Soho House Awards are held in partnership with Sky, with Porsche and Patrón as supporting partners.

Top: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michaela Coel, Daniel Kaluuya
Below (from left to right): Michael Kiwanuka, Self Esteem, and Elmgreen & Dragset