The CFDA Awards are just hours away, and the event, held today at New York’s Brooklyn Museum, is expected to be star-studded. Guests include Ciara, Yara Shahidi, Emily Ratajkowski, Tory Burch and more, while honoree Jennifer Lopez is set to receive the Fashion Icon Award.
The evening’s top categories include Womenswear, Menswear and Emerging Designer of the Year, as well as Accessory Designer of the Year. Read up on all the nominees below.
Tabitha Simmons
The shoe designer is moving full steam ahead. After winning the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Swarovski Award for Accessory Design in 2012, she has since seen much success. With Meghan Markle a fan, among many other celebrities, Simmons found the recipe to creating elegant, feminine and unique shoes consumers keep coming back for. She counts multiple awards, including FN’s 2018 Designer of the Year honor, and she is once again nominated for the CFDA’s Accessory Designer of the Year, a trophy she won in 2015. Now Simmons is celebrating her label’s one-decade anniversary, with no plans to scale back. “The thing is that I love my job,” she told FN. “To grow the business and make it much bigger — that’s important to me.”
Virgil Abloh
Will Virgil Abloh take home a CFDA Award this year for his Off-White accessories? He was nominated in the Emerging Talent category in 2017 as well as Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2018 but has yet to take home the trophy despite many successes. Abloh, who was honored with the Shoe of the Year award for his Air Jordan 1 at the 2017 FN Achievement Awards, has had a busy year since becoming Louis Vuitton’s artistic director of menswear as well as the first African-American designer to lead the division for the brand. His own label, Off-White, continues to surge, as does his ongoing Nike collaborations, including is latest seen on Serena Williams. Tonight, he is also nominated for Menswear Designer of the Year.
Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen
The Olsen twins have been big winners at the CFDA Awards in years past. They took home the Accessory Designer of the Year award in 2018 for their work with their brand, The Row, which they also won in 2014. Plus, the Olsens were nominated for Womenswear Designer of the Year, an honor they received twice. The Row launched in 2006 and has found success in its simplistic aesthetic. The label’s Bare Leather sandal style, for instance, has been one of the hottest silhouettes for spring ’19.
Jennifer Fisher
Jewelry designer Jennifer Fisher has established an impressive list of clientele, including Hailey Bieber, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Selena Gomez and more. Notable items include her cuffs, hoop earrings, rings, statement chokers and styles from her brass and fine collections. In 2012, she was a finalist for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, and 2014, she was nominated for an Emerging Talent award at the CFDA Awards.
Telfar Clemens
In 2017, unisex label Telfar, founded by Telfar Clemens, won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award and brought home $400,000 for the brand’s unique spin on stylish streetwear. Since then, the brand has garnered attention for its democratic appeal and inclusivity, as well as for its accessible Shopping Bag style, which has become increasingly popular among consumers.
Other nominees tonight include Heron Preston for Emerging Designer of the Year, Mike Amiri for Menswear Designer of the Year and Sander Lak for Sies Marjan for the womenswear honor.
Watch our video of FN’s 2018 Footwear News Achievement Awards red carpet.
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