The Italian Rêve – CFDA: Winners and Best Looks

Finally yesterday night came the moment everyone in fashion was waiting for: the announcement of the winners and honorees of the 2016 CFDA (Council of Fashion Designer of America) Fashion Awards, in collaboration with Swarovski for the 15th consecutive year in New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom.

The ceremony featured guests like Oscar winners and model muses but the main focus of the evening was on the designers being celebrated by the CFDA.

The honorary awards went to Norma Kamali (American fashion designer based in New York City of Lebanese origins, best known for the “sleeping bag” coat, garments made from silk parachutes and versatile multi-use pieces); Donna Karan (designer of the brands DK and DKNY), and Gucci’s Alessandro Michele (the Italian genius with long hair and mind full of dreams that worked first at Fendi’s and then he brought his vision to the Florentine Gucci); and a tribute to commemorate David Bowie’s ongoing fashion legacy.

For Womenswear Designer of the Year, the nominees were Joseph Altuzarra for Altuzarra, Marc Jacobs, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez for Proenza Schouler, Kate Mulleavy and Laura Mulleavy for Rodarte, and Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row (last year’s winners). The winner of the category was Marc Jacobs!

For Menswear Designer of the Year, the award went to Thom Browne, the Accessory Designer of the Year was Mansur Gavriel and the winner of the Swarovski Award for Womenswear was the young and talented Brandon Maxwell.

Last but not least, the Fashion Icon of the Year was the one and only Queen: Beyoncé.

“The CFDA Fashion Awards honor the best and brightest talents in American Fashion today,” said Steven Kolb, President and CEO of the CFDA. “A CFDA Award is one of the most coveted honors in the fashion industry.”

Trey Laird, chief creative officer said: “I really wanted to do something different for this year’s CFDA creative, and I was inspired by something Diane von Furstenberg said one day, that the fashion world was like one big family! So I thought, What if it actually was a family? I imagined a big rambling house with different fashion characters in every room: Thom Browne in the kitchen making pancakes, Irene Neuwirth in the tub with Amber Valletta, the Rag & Bone gang pulling the car out of the garage, Public School playing beer pong in the game room, and Imran Amed upstairs in the guest room having breakfast in bed with Liu Wen. It was so exciting to create all these little stories, and Lachlan Bailey beautifully brought it all to life with me. Fashion is indeed like one big, amazing, crazy family, and who wouldn’t want to drop by that house for a visit?”