Womenswear Designer of the Year: Brandon Maxwell
Born September 18, 1984. His grandmother worked at a boutique in Longview, where he often spent his time. Growing up, Maxwell would put together outfits and photograph his friends wearing them. Moved to New York in 2002 to study painting at Marymount Manhattan College before transferring to St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. Maxwell entered the fashion industry as a stylist. Began assisting Nicola Formichetti in 2010, where he was introduced to Lady Gaga. In 2012, Maxwell took on the role of Lady Gaga’s fashion director. The rest is history!
Emerging Designer of the Year: Emily Adams Bode for Bode
Atlanta-born designer Emily Adams Bode launched her line in New York, in 2016. The menswear brand is known for its one-of-a-kind shirts, pants and outerwear made from globally sourced antique fabrics including New England quilts, 1920s French bed linens and grain sacks from the southeastern U.S. Emily was raised doing a lot of craft making and going to antique stores. When she was in school she interned at Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren.
Accessory Designer of the Year: Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row
Olsen twins duo were born on June 13, 1986. They are former child actresses and now fashion designers.
The twins made their acting debut as infants playing Michelle Tanner on the television series Full House. At the age of six, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen began starring together in TV, film, and video projects, which continued to their teenage years. The Olsen twins have English and Norwegian ancestry .Their style sometimes referred to as "ashcan" or "bohemian-bourgeois"is similar to the boho-chic style popularized in Britain by Kate Moss and Sienna Miller. The look consists of oversized sunglasses, boots, loose sweaters, and flowing skirts, with an aesthetic of mixing high-end and low-end pieces. The twins were tapped as the faces of upscale fashion line Badgley Mischka in 2006. The Olsens had a clothing line for girls ages 4–14 in Wal-Mart stores across North America, as well as a beauty line called "Mary-Kate and Ashley: Real fashion for real girls". In 2004, they made news by signing a pledge to allow full maternity leave to all the workers that sew their line of clothing in Bangladesh. The National Labor Committee, which organized the pledge, praised the twins for their commitment to worker rights. The Olsens have also launched their own couture fashion label, The Row, named after Savile Row in London
Menswear Designer of the Year: RICK OWENS
Rick Owens earned a cult following for his sharp, distressed leather jackets and an all-black, 'grungy glamorous' aesthetic. Richard Saturnino Owens was (born November 18, 1962 in Porterville, California. His parents are John (d. 2015) and Concepción "Connie" Owens. Connie is Mexican. Owens was raised in a conservative, Catholic household. After graduating high school, he moved to Los Angeles to study art at Otis College of Art and Design, in Los Angeles, for two years before taking pattern-making and draping courses at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. This led to work in the garment industry, designing copies of designer clothing. Owens launched his fashion line in 1994, operating out of a store in Hollywood Boulevard. He moved to Paris in 2003 with his companion and then wife Michèle Lamy, setting up his home and atelier inside a historic five-storey building that previously served as offices for former French President François Mitterrand. In January 2019, Owens dedicated his fashion show to Larry LeGaspi, the man he considers his creative forefather. Owens has worked for years on a book about LeGaspi, to be published later in 2019.
Fashion Icon Award: Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn López (born July 24, 1969) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and producer. In 1991, López began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on In Living Color, where she remained a regular until she decided to pursue an acting career in 1993. For her first leading role in the 1997 Selena biopic of the same name, López received a Golden Globe nomination and became the first Latin actress to earn over US$1 million for a film. In 2012, Forbes ranked her as the most powerful celebrity in the world, as well as the 38th most powerful woman in the world.[
Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti International Award: Sarah Burton, creative director at Alexander McQueen
Burton was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, one of five children of Anthony and Diana Heard. She attended Withington Girls' School in Manchester. After completing an art foundation course at Manchester Polytechnic, and opting to pursue fashion over studies in fine art, she studied Print Fashion at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. During her third year she was interviewed for a year's placement at Alexander McQueen at the suggestion of her tutor Simon Ungless, a friend of McQueen's. She joined the company for a year as an intern, when the company was based in a tiny studio in Hoxton Square.
Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award: Bob Mackie
Bob Mackie was born March 24, 1939), is an American fashion designer and costumer, best known for his dressing of entertainment icons such as Joan Rivers, Cher, RuPaul, Barbara Eden, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, Elton John, Ann-Margret, Carol Burnett, Marie Osmond, Lola Falana and Mitzi Gaynor. He was the costume designer for Carol Burnett on The Carol Burnett Show during its entire 11-year run and designed the costumes for its spinoff, Mama's Family, and for the 1993 television adaptation of Gypsy.
Founder’s Award: Carine Roitfeld
Carine was born on 19th pf September in 1954. She is a French fashion editor. She is the former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, a position she held from 2001 to 31 January 2011. A former fashion model and writer, she announced her resignation on 17 December 2010 and was succeeded by Emmanuelle Alt.In 2012, she became founder and editor-in-chief of CR Fashion Book.
Media Award: Lynn Yaeger, contributing editor and writer at Vogue
Lynn Yaeger is a contributing fashion editor to Vogue.com and a contributing writer to Vogue. She is a former fashion reporter for The Village Voice, having worked for the paper for 30 years. Her column, "Elements of Style", was renamed "Frock Star" in February 2007. Yaeger is also a regular contributor to The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Style Magazine, the American edition of Vogue magazine, Travel & Leisure, and countless antiques & collectibles dealers.
Lynn is also a fashion columnist for Full Frontal Fashion, a style website in association with Sundance Channel. She is also the curator for the vintage section of fashion retail website yoox.com.
Board of Directors’ Tribute Award: Barbie
Even as she celebrates her 60th birthday, Barbie shows no signs of slowing down, and at Monday night’s CFDA Awards at the Brooklyn Museum, the Council of Fashion Designers of America recognized both her influence and her commitment to evolve, bestowing the iconic fashion doll with its Board of Directors Tribute Award.
Positive Change Award: Eileen Fisher
Eileen Fisher (born June 6, 1950) is an American clothing designer and founder of the women's clothing brand Eileen Fisher, Inc. Fisher's designs are characterized by simplicity, and her company is known for using non-traditional models in its print advertisements, including its own employees.
Written by Giulia Juliet Belkin
Known for his signature lace-up leather brief, the former Balmain embellishment expert launched his label in 2017 and has captured industry attention for his exploration of sex and sexuality through clothing.