New York, NY, June 8, 2010 – Last night, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) paid tribute to the winners and honorees of the 2010 CFDA Fashion Awards at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center. The top honors went to Marc Jacobs for Womenswear Designer of the Year, presented by Jessica Biel. The award for Menswear Designer of the Year was presented by Anthony Mackie to David Neville & Marcus Wainwright for Rag & Bone. Alexis Bittar took home the Accessory Designer of the Year Award, presented by Dakota Fanning. For the ninth year in a row, the evening was generously underwritten by Swarovski.
Alexa Chung and Ed Westwick presented all three Swarovski Awards which honor and recognize emerging talent. The Swarovski Award for Womenswear was given to Jason Wu. The Swarovski Award for Menswear was presented to Richard Chai. The Swarovski Award for Accessory Design went to Alexander Wang. Recipients in each category will receive generous financial support from the company as well as exposure to the company’s vast and innovative crystal products and applications for fashion.
The Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Michael Kors by Anna Wintour, Editor in Chief of Vogue.
The late Alexander McQueen was honored with the Board of Directors’ Special Tribute Award by Sarah Jessica Parker for his indelible contribution to international fashion. A live presentation of his final sixteen looks were shown on models who appeared on a custom-built stage by Tony-Award winning set designer Scott Pask. This presentation was the first time the collection has been seen in its entirety since its original presentation in Paris in March 2010. The set featured the “Schonbek® Olde World Chandelier;” a glass-arm chandelier with the most number of Swarovski crystal pendants in the world due to its special design and patented methods.
Christopher Bailey for Burberry was recognized with this year’s International Award presented by Donna Karan. The Eleanor Lambert Award was presented to Vogue Fashion Director Tonne Goodman by Caroline Kennedy. Paper magazine’s founding Editor & Publisher Kim Hastreiter was honored with the Eugenia Sheppard Award for excellence in journalism, presented by Brooke Shields. Iman was presented with the Fashion Icon Award by Isabella Rossellini.
As part of the CFDA’s commitment to design education, the Geoffrey Beene Design Scholarship winner Carmen Chen Wu, the Liz Claiborne Fashion Scholarship winner Jusil Carroll, and the CFDA/Teen Vogue Scholarship winner Nicole Goh were acknowledged from the stage by CFDA executive director Steven Kolb.
This year also marked the second annual Popular Vote Award sponsored by L’Oréal Paris. Through a website hosted by wwd.com, the public was given the opportunity to vote for its favorite fashion designer. An overwhelming number of votes were cast. L’Oréal Paris Spokesperson and CFDA Health Initiative representative Doutzen Kroes announced the winner of this year’s Popular Vote Award as Ralph Lauren.
CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg told the sold-out theater “Tonight is the night we designers and members of the industry salute our peers and celebrate their talents. We are a family.” She then went on to speak about the organization’s accomplishments over the past year, including raising $1 million for the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, launching the CFDA Fashion Incubator, working with the Design Trust on the Garment District, lobbying for copyright protection through the establishment of the Fashion Law Institute, and the continued growth of services for CFDA’s 350 members.
