Global artistic recognition is no longer limited to Hollywood or conventional Western models. Over the past decade, a new wave of festivals and award-giving platforms has begun rewriting the cultural script. By shifting the limelight toward a more international, global, and visionary arena of innovation, these efforts are countering decades of homogenization in entertainment and fashion. According to a 2023 report by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, fewer than 27% of internationally recognized creative awards between 2000 and 2020 were awarded to non-Western creators. Clearly, there’s a demand for more representative institutions, and several new entrants are busy altering that.
One example of this is the Septimius Awards, established in 2022. With its focus on international storytelling through film and media, it has established a reputation in cultural circles. However, alongside it, a sister effort, the Isis Fashion Awards, is making significant inroads into the expansion of this cause into fashion, design, and visual culture. Launched to build on the same leadership, both institutions aim to provide serious, formal recognition for varied talent that mainstream institutions often overlook.
Notably, in 2024, the Isis Fashion Awards became the most viewed fashion show on YouTube, underscoring its growing global influence and appeal. The Isis Fashion Awards offers a unique platform for accessory designers, whom Jan-Willem Breure considers the underdogs of the fashion industry. He believes their innovative contributions are often overshadowed, and the platform gives these designers a vital voice to showcase their creativity and cultural impact, amplifying their role in the global fashion narrative.
The person behind both awards, Jan-Willem Breure, has frequently stated his goal as a response to systemic underrepresentation. The titles of the Septimius Awards are thus consistent with this goal: taking their name from Septimius Severus, the earliest African-born Roman emperor, the title gives a nod to ancient power beyond the traditionally Western sphere. The Isis Fashion Awards, named for the ancient Egyptian goddess representing beauty, fortitude, and creativity, fulfill the same purpose. Combined, the titles indicate an increased cultural aim to reattach the international arts community to narratives reaching well beyond the classical Euro-American canon.
Breure’s personal background explains the urgency of this vision. Born in Rwanda in 1988, he lost his mother when he was born and knew nothing of his father. For his first three months, he lived in an orphanage before being adopted by Dutch missionaries. His childhood was divided between Kenya and Namibia before he settled in the Netherlands at the age of 13. These experiences provided him with firsthand exposure to both the richness of culture and the challenges faced by underrepresented groups. In the face of open racism, even being referred to as “primitive” and having monkey sounds thrown his way throughout his education, Breure held on. In 2011, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague with a degree in Interactive Media Design.
The formation of both the Isis Fashion Awards and Septimius Awards was a direct reaction to such experiences. The Septimius platform has already been recognized by major publications, including Forbes, ELLE, and GQ, for its unconventional style. In 2024, the Septimius Awards gained further prominence with the appointment of Stedman Graham, partner of Oprah Winfrey, as an official ambassador. Graham, an esteemed author, educator, and leadership expert, conducted a transformative workshop on leadership and identity during the awards, aligning with the event’s mission to promote diversity and excellence in the creative arts.
The Isis Fashion Awards, being more recent, are treading a similar course, amplified by their record-breaking viewership on YouTube in 2024. Instead of runway glamour, the fashion awards highlight story, creativity, and cultural influence. The category system is inclusive by design, organized to cater to a broad range of styles and sources. It’s a considerate break from more market-driven fashion awards.
Breure is acutely aware of the challenges posed by emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), in the creative industries. He worries that AI’s ability to generate art, designs, and narratives risks diluting the authenticity of human-driven creativity, a core value of both awards. To address this, he is exploring ways to integrate AI thoughtfully into the awards’ category systems, such as introducing categories for AI-enhanced storytelling or sustainable design innovations powered by AI, while ensuring human creativity remains central. However, Breure is equally concerned about AI’s broader societal impact, particularly its potential to exacerbate polarization.
Algorithms often amplify divisive content, making it harder to foster the inclusive, global community he envisions. As the creator of these platforms, he finds uniting diverse voices from around the world increasingly challenging in an AI-driven digital landscape, where echo chambers can overshadow shared narratives. Breure emphasizes the need for ethical AI implementation, advocating for human-centered judging criteria and human oversight to maintain the awards’ mission of celebrating diverse, authentic stories. This approach reflects his broader commitment to countering polarization by prioritizing cultural dialogue and representation, ensuring the awards remain a unifying force for creatives worldwide, not just in film but also in fashion.
Princess Margarita de Bourbon de Parme of the Dutch royal family participated as a designer at the Isis Fashion Awards on May 8th, 2025, and won an award, adding further prestige and international recognition to the event and its cross-cultural status. Her participation and victory as a designer are symbolic, linking aristocratic tradition with fashionable diversity and design in today’s world.
Together, the Septimius Awards and the Isis Fashion Awards are building a system that challenges how global recognition is perceived. Instead of offering themselves as substitutes for traditional institutions like the Oscars or the Met Gala, these awards operate on their own terms. They recognize that the existing system has limits and are providing something different, constructed from a space of experience, cultural cross-section, and a conscious emphasis on representation.
Although still relatively young in terms of the life cycle of global awards institutions, both events are laying the groundwork for a new type of cultural recognition. Whether celebrating film directors from Iran, fashion designers from Ghana, or visual artists from Brazil, the platforms open up a broader discussion about where ideas are created and who gets noticed. By doing so, they’re not solely applauding individual creatives. They’re redefining the frameworks that determine who should be included in the global creative canon.
As more of the world is shaped by international exchange and digital narratives, these initiatives are both timely and urgent. The creative sector is evolving, and recognition must evolve in response. On these two interlinked platforms, Jan-Willem Breure and his team are trying to do just that, without expecting applause, but with a critical eye for those who have long been overlooked.
The Isis Fashion Awards and the Septimius Awards don’t yet enjoy the same level of recognition as more established institutions, but they have a thoughtful focus on international inclusivity and storytelling complexity, bolstered by the Isis Fashion Awards’ unprecedented YouTube viewership in 2024 and high-profile endorsements like Graham’s ambassadorship, which have made them notable players in the cultural world. As their power increases, so does the exposure of the stories and the storytellers they wish to elevate.
