The 2022 CFDA Award Nominees
Womenswear Designer of the Year
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Name: Catherine Holstein
Brand: Khaite
Year founded: 2016
What is your highlight of the year?
“Showtime!”
Name: Christopher John Rogers
Brand: Christopher John Rogers
Year founded: 2016
Name: Gabriela Hearst
Brand: Gabriela Hearst
Year founded: 2015
What is your highlight of the year?
“I would say this September show mobilized by the reversal of Roe v. Wade was IT. We knew our show had to be different this time. It couldn’t be the same. We counted on the help of The Resistance Revival Chorus.
“I feel privileged that with each collection we get to learn more about women. Not as products but women; more needs to be known — from their biology to the anatomy mysteries of the female body. This season we learned about Sappho. Since Greek antiquity females have been pushing the boundaries forward despite a misogynistic history burying these formidable catalysts.
“The show was a celebration of these heroines. To represent them, we had a formation of women that I admire, from Cecile Richard, Xiye Bastida, Brandy Schultz, Roda Ahmed, etc., and men like my friend Leiva representing the male supporters that know that without the women cause being realized we can’t move forward as a species. I also found a gold nugget along the way.…For sure the 10th Muse graced us that day.”
Brand: LaQuan Smith
Name: LaQuan Smith
Year founded: 2012
What is your highlight of the year?
“This year I’ve had the honor of dressing so many inspiring women. We recently created a custom look for Beyoncé, which was an exciting moment for us. She is the embodiment of the strength and fierceness that is the LaQuan Smith woman. I’m so fortunate to design for trailblazers like her.”
Name: Peter Do
Brand: Peter Do
Year founded: 2018
What is your highlight of the year?
“My highlight of the year is finally launching unisex, expanding the collection with more genderless styles to be more inclusive.”
Menswear Designer of the Year
Name: Emily Adams Bode
Brand: Bode
Year founded: 2016
What is your highlight of the year?
“Opening our Los Angeles store!”
Name: Jerry Lorenzo
Brand: Fear of God
Year founded: 2013
What is your highlight of the year?
“The highlight of my year was playing in the MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball Game at Dodgers Stadium.”
Name: Mike Amiri
Brand: Amiri
Year founded: 2014
What is your highlight of the year?
“Returning to Paris for spring 2023 runway was truly one of the highlights of the year. The show represented a tipping point for Amiri as we continue to establish our presence globally as Americans alongside the traditional European maisons.”
Name: Thom Browne
Brand: Thom Browne
Year founded: 2001
What is your highlight of the year?
“Everyday with Andrew [Bolton] is my highlight, but being asked to be the chairman of the CFDA, which doesn’t officially start until next year, but the honor of being asked and being able to give back to an industry that has given me so much.”
Name: Willy Chavarria
Brand: Willy Chavarria
Year founded: 2015
What is your highlight of the year?
“My highlight this year was seeing the cultural impact of the work we do at Willy Chavarria. Being able to touch people, lift people and communicate through fashion is a true honor and a responsibility. From speaking symposiums to secretly listening in on conversations in front of my installation at the Met [‘A Lexicon of Fashion’], I have seen and felt an impact this year that was a turning point for me and my team.”
Accessories Designer of the Year
Name: Aurora James
Brand: Brother Vellies
Year founded: 2013
What is your highlight of the year?
“Being able to embrace people, wholeheartedly, arms outstretched again without fear. Celebrating in person. Seeing people’s entire bodies when they’re speaking, remembering the subtlety of body language. Brushing past another body in a hallway. Getting to remember the smell of old friends.”
Name: Brandon Blackwood
Brand: Brandon Blackwood
Year founded: 2015
What is your highlight of the year?
“The highlight of this year is definitely getting my first CFDA nomination. I never thought this would happen for my brand so early so I’m extremely honored and just trying to soak up this moment as much as possible.”
Name: Raul Lopez
Brand: Luar
Year founded: 2017
What is your highlight of the year?
“Being nominated for the CFDA Accessories Designer of the Year. The bag was a piece I beheld out for a long time. Launching into handbags has helped propel my company and team to a level I wouldn’t be able to imagine if it wasn’t for the success of the Ana bag.”
Name: Stuart Vevers
Brand: Coach
Year founded: 1941
What is your highlight of the year?
“My highlight this year was Coach (Re)Loved. The circular program reimagines and refurbishes pre-loved Coach bags to give them a second life. It’s one way we’re trying to imagine new ways of reducing waste at Coach.
“The seeds for the program were actually planted on the runway, when we introduced upcycled and vintage Coach pieces as part of our Coach Forever collection — and as part of my vision for environmental responsibility at Coach.
“Today, I’m proud to see how much Coach (Re)Loved has evolved and grown — we’ve built a team around it and have expanded the program beyond bags to ready-to-wear and footwear. There’s so much more to explore, though, but it feels like the start of something exciting.”
Name: Telfar Clemens
Brand: Telfar
Year founded: 2005
Emerging Designer of the Year
Name: Bach Mai
Brand: Bach Mai
Year founded: 2021
What is your highlight of the year?
“The highlight of the year has been putting my work out into the world and seeing people respond and connect to the clothes. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing your creative universe resonate with others, and I have been so honored that so many have chosen to wear Bach Mai in the past year.”
Name: Carly Mark
Brand: Puppets and Puppets
Year founded: 2018
What is your highlight of the year?
“The highlight of my year has been the Puppets and Puppets spring 2023 show combined with my nomination for American Emerging Designer of the Year. Both have felt like tangible milestones in my growth process as both a designer and a woman.”
Name: Elena Velez
Brand: Elena Velez
Year founded: 2018
What is your highlight of the year?
“The highlight of my year has been starting to grow the team I share my highs and lows with. The building of this brand has been the pursuit of my life since childhood — I’ve dreamed of having these collaborators and friends.”
Name: Colm Dillane
Brand: KidSuper
Year founded: 2018 (legally founded)
What is your highlight of the year?
“The past year had many highlights but signing the lease on the new KidSuper Brooklyn headquarters, a 10,000-square-foot building in Williamsburg [in Brooklyn, New York], was the most emotional moment for me and my team. I am grateful for the awards and accolades, but having something so tangible to share with my community is the most rewarding.”
Name: Lauren Harwell Godfrey
Brand: Harwell Godfrey
Year founded: 2018
What is your highlight of the year?
“Being a finalist in the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund. I am based in the Bay Area in California and having this connection to the leaders of the American fashion community and the other incredible designers in this year’s fund has had an incredibly positive impact on my work.”
Award Winners and Honorees
2022 CFDA Fashion Icon Award: Lenny Kravitz
Positive Social Influence Award: The Slaysians from House of Slay, featuring Prabal Gurung, Laura Kim, Phillip Lim, Tina Leung and Ezra William.
Founder’s Award in Honor of Eleanor Lambert: Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu curator in charge at The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award: Laurie Lynn Stark and Richard Stark, Chrome Hearts
Media Award in Honor of Eugenia Sheppard: Patti Wilson, fashion stylist
Environmental Sustainability Award: The United Nations (accepted by Amina J. Mohammed, United Nations deputy secretary-general)
Innovation Award: Kim Kardashian, Skims
Stylist Award: Law Roach, fashion stylist and image architect
Board of Trustees’ Award: Virgil Abloh, posthumously
Special Anniversary Award: Jeffrey Banks, designer of Jeffrey Banks
Launch Gallery: The 2022 CFDA Nominee Photo Portfolio
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