The CFDA unveils 2019 Fashion Awards nominees and honorees

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Mar 20, 2019

Having announced that Tom Ford will become its new chairman, the Council of Fashion Designers of America made a further big reveal on Tuesday, publishing its list of nominees and honorees for the 2019 CFDA Fashion Awards. 

The organization released the list on its Instagram account in a series of posts organized by category.

For Womenswear Designer of the Year, the nominees are Brandon Maxwell, Marc Jacobs, Kate Mulleavy and Laura Mulleavy for Rodarte, Rosie Assoulin, and Sander Lak for Sies Marjan.

For Menswear Designer of the Year, the nominees are Mike Amiri for Amiri, Virgil Abloh for Off-White, 2018's CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award-winner Kerby Jean-Raymond for Pyer Moss, Rick Owens, and Thom Browne for Thom Browne New York.

Accessory Designer of the Year nominees are Jennifer Fisher for Jennifer Fisher Jewelry, Virgil Abloh for Off-White, Tabitha Simmons, Telfar Clemens for Telfar, and Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row.

Emily Adams Bode for Bode, Beth Bugdaycay for Foundrae, Heron Preston, Catherine Holstein for Khaite, and Sarah Staudinger and George Augusto for Staud are the nominees for Emerging Designer of the Year.

Each of the nominees for the Emerging Designer Award will be making their CFDA Fashion Award debut this year. However, the other categories include several familiar faces, like the Olsens, who won Accessory Designer of the Year for The Row in 2018; Sander Lak, who was presented with the Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent for Sies Marjan in 2018; and Virgil Abloh, who was nominated for Off-White for both Womenswear and Menswear Designer of the Year in 2018.  

Moving on to honorees, the CFDA announced that the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti International Award will be presented to Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, while the Positive Change Award will go to Eileen Fisher for her commitment to sustainability.

The Founder’s Award, given in honor of CFDA founder Eleanor Lambert, will go to stylist and editor Carine Roitfeld, and the Media Award, which honors American fashion writer Eugenia Sheppard, will go to fashion editor and writer Lynn Yaeger.

According to the CFDA, further honorees will be announced in the coming weeks.

“The CFDA Fashion Awards celebrate the outstanding creativity in American fashion,” said Steven Kolb, CFDA president and CEO. “There will be exciting changes to this year’s awards, and we are honored to have Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti join us as we name the International Award.”

Winners will be announced on June 3 during the official ceremony held at the Brooklyn Museum.

Last year's CFDA Fashion Awards were hosted by Issa Rae, but this year's host has yet to be announced.