Rachel Scott, Ralph Lauren Lead Winners at CFDA Fashion Awards

The fashion and celebrity crowd came out in full force Monday night to celebrate the CFDA Fashion Awards presented by Amazon Fashion, that took place at the American Museum of Natural History.

The nearly five-hour event was its own New York City marathon, with 12 awards, videos, numerous presenters and acceptances spread out over the course of the chock-filled evening, which ended at close to 11 p.m.

Thom Browne, chairman of the CFDA, introduced the awards presentation. “Thank you all for being here tonight. It’s such an honor to be here celebrating American excellence within the fashion industry, and to be addressing you again after such a monumental year.” Over the past year, Browne said he has seen so many important stories from American designers and creators who had “spectacular shows” during New York Fashion Week and are having an impact all over the country and world.

The evening included a red carpet, cocktail party, dinner and awards presentation. In between the dinner of chicken pot pie — the long-standing dinner tradition at the CFDA Awards —and the accolades, guests got up and mixed and mingled among the tables underneath the life-sized, 94-foot-long, 21,000-pound giant blue whale. The event was hosted by Keke Palmer, the multi-Emmy Award-winning actress and TV host, singer, songwriter, producer and author.

Among the evening’s guests were Pamela Anderson, Vera Wang, Lea Michele, Christian Siriano, Kate Barton, Jonathan Simkhai, Narciso Rodriguez, Steven Lagos, Lana Todorovich, Todd Kahn, Reed Krakoff, Henry Zankov, Isaac Mizrahi, Kobi Halperin, Deirdre Quinn, Maria Cornejo, Daniella Kallmeyer, Emily Smith, Rose Byrne, Becky G, Kenneth Cole, Allison Janney, Gracie Abrams, June Ambrose, Sergio Hudson, Carolyn Murphy, Jason Wu, Julia Fox, Megan Thee Stallion, Travis Scott and Stacey Bendet.

A star-filled roster of presenters honored a slate of designers and leaders in the industry. Most notably, Lupita Nyong’o and Francisco Costa presented the American Womenswear Designer of the Year award to Rachel Scott for Diotima, the second time she has won this award. Ralph Lauren took home the American Menswear Designer of the Year (for the third time), which was presented by Matt Damon and Tremaine Emory.

Naomi Osaka and Joseph Altuzarra presented Ana Khouri with the American Accessory Designer of the Year, while Cole Escola and Gabriela Hearst gave the Google Shopping American Emerging Designer of the Year award to Colleen Allen, a Brooklyn-based women’s fashion designer and founder of her eponymous label.

Anna Wintour presented Tory Burch with the Positive Change Award; Peter Marino was named Fashion Icon, which was presented by Cornelia Guest, and Hailey Bieber, Rose and Zoë Kravitz presented the International Designer of the Year Award to Anthony Vaccarello, former creative director of YSL, who stepped down in October after a 10-year run.

Demi Moore presented Gap Inc. with the Innovation Award, presented by Amazon Fashion, and Laufey gave Eva Chen, vice president of fashion at Meta and Instagram, the Media Award in honor of Eugenia Sheppard. Michael Kors presented the Founder’s Award in honor of Eleanor Lambert to Linda Fargo, senior vice president, fashion and store presentation director at Bergdorf Goodman.

Adi Gil, Angela Donhauser and Gabriel Asfour of ThreeAsFour presented the Isabel Toledo Board of Directors’ Tribute to Susan Cianciolo, a fashion designer and artist, while Charles Star Matadin presented the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award to his parents, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, the Dutch-American fashion photographer duo, whose work has been featured in numerous fashion magazines and advertising campaigns.

Addressing the crowd, Sara Moonves, editor in chief of W Magazine, spoke about the 30th anniversary of the CFDA Scholarship Fund. “Over the past three decades, CFDA scholars have gone on to shape the industry, emerging as influential creative voices and leaders,” she said. She said this year marks a new chapter in that legacy, with a record $1.5 million awarded directly to promising design students across the country. She noted that in 2027, the CFDA x WYouth Scholarship, presented by Nuuly, will be introduced, providing two students the funding to pursue their education.

Damon and Emory presented the American Menswear Designer of the Year award to Ralph Lauren, who was seated with his wife, Ricky, and his team in the audience. Lauren has previously received this award in 1996 and 2007. The latest recognition comes on the heels of the brand’s 60th anniversary. Last year, Lauren won the American Womenswear Designer of the Year Award, which he previously won in 1995.

In presenting the Positive Change Award to Burch, Wintour, global editorial director of Vogue and the chief content officer of Condé Nast, said she spoke to Burch’s family and friends about the designer and found out she is an inveterate practical joker, such as wrapping exquisite Christmas boxes for her brothers and filling them with rocks when she was growing up. “The other thing that everybody told me about Tory is that she’s strong, persistent and a fighter by nature.” At the very end of her introduction, Wintour lost track of her pages, and one guest was overheard remarking, “Well, somebody’s going to lose their job.”

Burch explained that she wanted to create a global lifestyle brand so she could start a foundation to support women. Investors told her she should never use the words, “business and purpose” in the same sentence. There was a great deal of negativity, and she was glad she didn’t listen to that. She started her company in 2004 and eventuality launched her foundation in 2009. Seventeen years later, their community consists of millions of women across the country who share their wisdom and their experiences with each other. And the foundation is on track to reach a billion dollars in revenue by 2030. “One of the most important things I’ve learned is that you don’t have to have every resource to begin making the change that you want to see,” Burch said.

In accepting her Media Award, Meta’s Chen said, “When I was in high school, I always volunteered for the school musical, but I was never actually on stage. I loved behind the scenes. I’d help build and paint the set, and the night of the show, I took on the role of spotlight operator, where it was my job to find the right moment and the right light to shine on all the actual stars onstage.

“That’s one of the many reasons why it’s rather surreal for me to be up here tonight sharing the spotlight with generational brands like Tory, Linda [Fargo], Inez and Vinoodh and so many others — it’s something that 15 year-old me would never have imagined,” Chen said.

Vinoodh Matadin addressed his son, who presented he and his wife Inez de Lamsweere with the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award. Matadin said that seeing his son “become the man he is today” has been the greatest achievement of their lives. “We’re deeply grateful for the CFDA for honoring our lives and work together since 1986, of which for 35 years we have called New York our home.”

Van Lamsweerde said when they came from Amsterdam to New York in 1992 as artists in residence, they called art directors, magazines and record labels, but never had an opportunity to show their work. “It was the legendary agent Bryan Bantry who advised us to, in his words, go back to Europe, become stars there, and then they’ll all want you here.”

Khouri, who received the Accessories Designer of the Year, said, “I have not prepared a speech, so it’s going to be hard. I want to thank the CFDA.…Everyone who is behind this amazing community, you have no idea what it means to be part of all this, and to have the opportunity to speak with other designers and just feel part of something greater.

“I want to acknowledge all of the jewelry designers. This is for all of us. I believe so much that it is really, really important to share, and I really want to share this award with all of you, everyone in this room that is trying, that has something to say, that is creative and that really puts themselves out there, and all the students and everyone here, thank you so much,” Khouri said.

In presenting the Founder’s Award to Bergdorf’s Fargo, Kors said he has had the pleasure to know and work with Fargo for three decades, “and I have seen her work, her magic in so many ways.”

“She is both fashion oracle and style clairvoyant. Her storytelling creates highly imaginative worlds where clothes are the star,” Kors said. He said her instinct for inventing artful fashion, combined with a Midwesterner’s common sense approach to luxury and refinement, “has totally transformed the American retail landscape.”

“I have to tell you, there’s something wonderfully serendipitous about tonight, the very first Eleanor Lambert Founders’ Award in 2001 went to Dawn Mello, Bergdorf Goodman’s industry-changing fashion director,” said Fargo. “Dawn was well known for her unerring instincts. She put a lot of designers, some of whom are there in the room on the American map. Dawn changed my life when she hired me, an unknown. I may have put a portfolio of hopes and dreams in a mailbox addressed to her, but what came back was an infinitely rewarding world. Fashion does give as good as it gets, 5,000-plus shows, thousands of windows, travel, traffic jams. It’s been a glamorous journey that keeps unfolding,” said Fargo, who was dressed in Michael Kors Collection.

Moore, in presenting the Innovation Award presented by Amazon Fashion to Gap Inc., said that Gap has connected generations, for nearly 60 years across Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta. She said the brand “has been part of our lives through the first days of school, new jobs, major milestones, morning workouts and even red carpet moments like tonight, and most importantly, all the wonderfully ordinary moments in between.”

“Very few companies are woven into so many people’s lives in quite the same way. What I admire most is that they never stand still. They continue to reinvent the essentials we live in, challenging how we see ourselves and finding new ways for us to express who we are,” Moore said.

In accepting the award, Richard Dickson, chief executive officer of Gap, said, “Thank you to the CFDA and Amazon Fashion for this truly incredible honor. Innovation has been part of Gap’s DNA since 1969 when our founders set out to actually bridge the generation gap, and they did it thoroughly music, denim and fashion for everyone. “And I know many of you in this room have your own Gap story.

“It has truly been a personal privilege to lead this extraordinary company at this extraordinary time, and it takes an incredible team that brings that same sprit that we’ve always had every single day,” Dickson said.

Posen added, “Innovation is just never one person, it is a collective. It’s the people who care about craft and embrace the new and invest in the next generation.”

Guest, in presenting the Fashion Icon award to Marino, said, “Peter is the most magically talented creature I know, and he loves to make an entrance.…He is an original and has the most extraordinary eye for art, fashion, architecture, books, his beloved gardens.” She said Marino’s greatest creation might just be his own great self. “He is living proof. Fashion is about having confidence to be exactly who you are,” Guest said.

Marino, in a head-to-toe black leather ensemble, said, “Until tonight, I always thought that my wardrobe was only appreciated in certain clubs after midnight. Seriously though, I am truly grateful to be recognized by the CFDA for my career-long contribution to the marriage of fashion, architecture and fine art.” He said he has had immense joy working with these leading fashion designers of the past two generations, such as Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Valentino Carla Fendi, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Vigil Abloh for Louis Vuitton and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel. He said one of the most crucial elements of design in the more than 420 stores that he created over the last several decades is the art of convincing clients of the appropriate budget for fine arts. He has commissioned more than 350 individual works of art from all of the leading artists over the past four decades, some of whom were in the room.

Allen, who received the Google Shopping American Emerging Designer of the Year Award, said, “I am so honored to be here in such an incredible room of people that I’ve looked up to for my whole life. I love being here, I love representing New York. This community has been so beyond supportive, and I can’t do it without some of you there. So thank you. I would really like to dedicate this award to my parents who have been beyond supportive, have been with me from the beginning and just encouraged me to follow my dreams.”

Vaccarello accepted his International Designer of the Year Award, saying, I want to thank the CFDA for this incredible honor.” He thanked his team, Wintour and Donatella Versace “for believing in me from the beginning, for all your constant support, and everyone in America who has supported me over the years.”

“Fashion is a collective effort, but a vision requires connection. It requires instinct, commitment and courage to believe, even when others don’t notice. I always believe that fashion should make you feel something. It will provide an emotion, which will make you dream. Sometimes it should make you uncomfortable, and it’s fine. Not everything needs to be explained,” Vaccarello said. “These past 10 years have taught me many things about fashion, about people and personally about myself. I learned that success isn’t only about what you create. It’s about the people who stand beside you while you’re creating it. The people who believe in you, who challenge you, who show up where you need them, even without asking. Because in the end, the real magic isn’t what someone is wearing. It’s who’s standing next to you. And as I look to the future, those are the people I want next to me.”

In wrapping up the night, Nyong’o and Costa presented the Womenswear Designer of the Year to Rachel Scott, who didn’t prepare a speech. She said she’s probably the luckiest person in the world to be supported by and to collaborate with some of the most inspirational and powerful women. “I realized that it’s very unusual that someone like me can stand in a space like this. And in a world where independent and marginalized voices are systematically quieted, I feel extremely lucky and very, very responsive. And we have a lot of work to do, starting tomorrow morning.”