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Earlier today at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) announced the winners and paid tribute to the honourees of fashion’s equivalent of the Oscars: the 2018 CFDA Fashion Awards, presented in partnership with Swarovski.
For the second year running, the Womenswear Designer of the Year award went to Raf Simons for his work refashioning Calvin Klein in an image of artful Americana; in a long-awaited acknowledgment of his impact, Supreme’s James Jebbia took home the Menswear Designer of the Year award; the founding designer of technicolour contemporary label Sies Marjan, Sander Lak, received the Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent; and Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen were named Accessory Designer of the Year for their monastic high-end label, The Row.
It was a case of ‘better late than never’ for apex influencer Kim Kardashian West, who was presented with the CFDA’s inaugural Influencer Award by another (pinot grigio steeped) social media sensation, Busy Phillips. On winning the award, Kardashian remarked, “I’m kind of shocked I’m winning a fashion award when I’m naked most of the time. But this is seriously such an honour.”
Naomi Campbell, long an influencer and icon on and off social media, received the Fashion Icon award from the filmmaker and director, Lee Daniels. The recently-installed editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Edward Enninful, received the Eugenia Sheppard Media Award in recognition of his significant impact on the industry extending beyond his time at British Vogue. This year’s International Award, presented by Lupita Nyong’o, went to another stalwart of the industry, Donatella Versace. Likewise, The Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Narciso Rodriguez by Claire Danes.
Though his ensemble of a tuxedo jacket, washed blue denim jeans and running shoes has proved divisive, the designer Ralph Lauren unanimously received a Members Salute by his many contemporaries, including the designers Vera Wang, Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, Alexander Wang, Thom Browne, Jeffrey Banks, John Varvatos, Donna Karan, Marcus Wainwright, Jason Wu, and chairman of the CFDA, Diane von Furstenberg.
Swipe left to see the winners and honourees of the 2018 CFDA Fashion Awards.
Tile and cover image: BFA/Courtesy of CFDA
