Meet This Year’s Speakers At THE GLOSS GALA 2026: Amanda Wakeley OBE and Jo Elvin
By The Gloss
Discover the inspiring women who took to the stage at this year’s GLOSS GALA, celebrated fashion designer Amanda Wakeley OBE and former editor-in-chief Jo Elvin …
THE GLOSS GALA 2026 impressed in multiple ways: its sheer scale – 1,680 guests, 455 prizes, the longest catwalk in Ireland and also the calibre of international and Irish fashion showcased.
Hotly anticipated each year are the guest speakers. In the past, the line-up has included entrepreneurs and business powerhouses such as Trinny Woodall, Dame Helena Morrissey, Dana Thomas and Richard E Grant. This year saw the effervescent and inspiring duo, designer Amanda Wakeley OBE and former editor and broadcaster, Jo Elvin. They have been friends for decades and were a natural fit for the theme of the evening which was Making Every Decade Count.
In a conversation with Ciara Doherty, MC, they spoke about resilience, staying open to new possibilities and evolving through the prism of their own personal experience, and numerous career highs and lows.
Designer Amanda Wakeley OBE, of course, is one of Britain’s most celebrated fashion designers, renowned for her signature “clean glamour”. Over a career spanning more than three decades, she has dressed some of the world’s most stylish women, including Catherine, Princess of Wales, Beyoncé and Angelina Jolie. She continues to inspire through her bestselling new book Style DNA and her popular StyleDNA podcast, sharing her expertise on confidence, personal style and dressing with purpose.
Dressed in a bronze velvet trouser suit, she talked honestly about being intimidated by fashion editors and the unexpected turning point of her career – when Diana, Princess of Wales announced she was resigning from public life in 1993 wearing a dark emerald, green cavalry-style power suit by Amanda.
“Suddenly my brand was front and centre and I was flooded with enquiries,” explained Amanda of those pre-e-commerce days. While success followed, Amanda was also honest about the “seismic” grief of her company going into administration and her brother’s death.
“As an entrepreneur you are always in survival mode, but grief made me stop. I took time out to recover and look for the silver lining.” She was open about her coping tools – meditation, spending time in nature, sleep and exercise.
Amanda admitted that her 60s have been her best decade yet and left audiences with the uplifting message: “I’m not afraid anymore and am always excited about what the day ahead brings.”
Jo Elvin brought her trademark sparkle and wit to the RDS. As one of the most respected voices in magazine publishing and fashion journalism, she is the former editor of Glamour magazine and a familiar face and voice across television, radio and podcasting. She currently co-hosts Friday Night Fashion with Amanda and is a host of The Royals Uncensored, where her commentary on fashion, culture and the Royal family attracts audiences around the globe.
Jo admitted that her career has been far from linear, that she didn’t initially have a plan, other than “to come to London from Australia and take it from there.” She worked on Smash Hits magazine before launching Glamour and discussed the many celebrities she has met and interviewed. Amy Schumer and Kylie Minogue were standouts, particularly Kylie for her work ethic.
Jo was frank in sharing her story of redundancy from Condé Nast publishers and then standing down from her charity, Children with Cancer UK – another painful milestone. However, through grit and graft, she has continued to thrive and is grateful for her past and present success.
As her Instagram followers will know, Jo is most famous for her hashtag #clothesmyhusbandhates. She explained this and her own fashion evolution. “I took a long time to have confidence in fashion. If I get a negative reaction, I don’t care. Now I dress for me.” Wearing a sharp, embellished Nadine Merabi jacket with Uniqlo trousers and Aquazurra shoes, she epitomised the natural elegance and effortless style reflected in THE GLOSS GALA fashion show.
Pick up a copy of THE GLOSS November issue to read an exclusive interview with Amanda and Jo, on newsstands now.
