The Oscars of Fashion, the CFDA Awards took place last night honoring the biggest American talents. The Council of Fashion Designers of America opted for a new location this year, the Brooklyn Museum. Issa Rae hosted the celebrity-packed event that included everyone from Kendall Jenner and Kaia Gerber to Lupita Nyong’o and Cate Blanchett.
Speaking of the awards, pre-announced honourees included Diane von Furstenberg, who won the Swarovski Award for Positive Change; Carolina Herrera, who was presented with the Founder’s Award in honour of Eleanor Lambert; Narciso Rodriguez, who took home the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award; Donatella Versace, who was honored with the International Award; Naomi Campbell, who was recognized as the CFDA’s Fashion Icon; Edward Enninful, who received the Media Award; and Ralph Lauren who was presented with the CFDA’s first ever Members Salute Award.
Naomi Campbell delivered one of the most emotional speeches of the night:
“I was told many times that I couldn’t do certain things because of the color of my skin. I let it drive me. And of course I’m human, and I found it hard at times not to take it personally. But I stand here today as a proud woman of color, and I will continue to push for diversity and equality in this industry,’ the supermodel told the audience.
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The main part of the event included A-list presenters who handed the top prizes to the brightest talents in American fashion. The award of Womenswear Designer of The Year went in the hands of Raf Simons of Calvin Klein for the second year in a row. James Jebbia of Supreme was awarded for best menswear designer and he had some interesting thoughts on the topic:
“I’ve never considered Supreme to be a fashion company or myself to be a designer, but I appreciate the recognition for what we do,” he said.
According to the CFDA, in the accessory game, famous twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olen of The Row won. The Council of Fashion Designers of America decided to present the Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent to Sander Lak of Sies Marjan.
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It seems that in 2018, the CFDA is finally giving some credit to influencers. The Council included a new award this year – The Influencer Award. This prize went into the hands of no other than Kim Kardashian. Ten years ago, the reality star was considered as famous for being famous without any particular talent. But now the CFDA is recognizing her achievements in the industry with The Influencer award. Kim herself seemed surprised:
“I’m kind of shocked I’m winning a fashion award when I’m naked most of the time,” she joked during her acceptance speech. “But this is seriously such an honor, so thank you to the CFDA for this award,” she finished.
The Elizabeth and James fashion line by the Olsen Twins is getting expanded, as the sisters announce about their first ever fragrances to be launched in late January. This is a very important step in the development of their fashionable and youth-inspired brand, which will give them a chance to present their ideology from a different angle, introducing the conceptual principles of the Elizabeth and James from the spectrum of perfume options.
“We always knew we wanted to have a fragrance for this brand, because it’s very lifestyle. There are many components to the brand. We felt that between the brand Elizabeth and James and Sephora that we were really speaking together directly to our customer. We felt that was a really good place to start exploring the world of fragrance and beauty,” mentions Ashley. “These fragrances are really about what everyone wants, which is intimacy,” added Mary-Kate in an interview to WWD.
This plan of expansion is going to be realized with the help of the super effective collaboration with Sephora. The Senior Vice President of Sephora Originals, Michael McGeever, talking about this teamwork, said, “We look forward to bringing the modern perspective and fashion philosophy of Elizabeth and James designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen to life with this prestige fragrance.’
In fact, this is a very nice choice for the twins, since Sephora has all the necessary resources and creative ideas to bring their specifically introduced trends into perfume industry. The main concentration of the Olsen fragrance, which was primarily planned to be a single scent, is said to consist of two alternatives, Nirvana Black and Nirvana White. The idea of splitting the originally planned variant in two came as a result of evasion of over-concentrated proportions. The first option is made of violet, sandalwood, and vanilla notes, having a specific woody scent, while the second one features peony, muguet, and musk being more inclined towards florals. So we are really impatient to see what’s the result of this sophisticated and interesting collaboration, involving great ideas and really hard work.
Photos courtesy of Vogue