“What has always made American fashion so special and so exciting is our individuality—our different voices, our different points of view, and our different ideas—and that’s really what fashion is all about,” Michael Kors told a rapt room on Thursday evening at Café Zaffri. With a crowd full of industry figures and upcoming CFDA Fashion Award nominees beaming back at him, in that moment, his statement couldn’t have proved more true.
Kors, who is once again up for the American womenswear designer of the year accolade, was joined by fellow category nominees Rachel Scott and Wes Gordon, as well as menswear designer of the year nominees Willy Chavarria, plus Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne of Public School New York. The future of American fashion was also well represented: Colleen Allen donned one of her own designs, as did CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists Zane Li, Julia Ferentinos, and Emily Dawn Long, who are all recognized in the Google emerging designer of the year category. Jewelry designer Ana Khouri was in attendance, too.
“Being part of this community means so much to me personally,” Kors continued. “I started in this industry at a time when places like Lothar’s—the store on 57th Street where I started my career—weren’t simply stores; they were places where fashion, creativity, and personalities all came together. I was thrilled to become a CFDA member back in 1985. For my first CFDA Awards, we honored Katharine Hepburn, and I almost peed my pants! I was fortunate to meet visionary people like Dawn Mello from Bergdorf Goodman who understood that nurturing talent and opening the doors for the next generation was essential to keeping American fashion moving forward and relevant. That spirit is still at the very heart of what we do. At our best, we support one another, we respect the incredible work of our peers, and we show up for each other.”
With a resounding cheer from the room, Kors passed the microphone off and dinner was served. Over a refreshing crudo and endive salad, Vera Wang laughed with Lance LePere. Linda Fargo, recipient of this year’s Founder’s Award, and Chavarria posed for a quick snap, while Joseph Altuzzara and former CFDA president Stan Herman struck up a conversation near the burl leather bar.
All things considered, it was a fitting, and fashionable, warm-up ahead of the industry’s big night out on November 2.
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Brendon Cook/BFA.com 1/14Hildy Kuryk, Vera Wang, Aurora James, Macrene Alexiades
Maxwell Osborne, Dao-Yi Chow
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Photo: Courtesy of Brendon Cook/BFA.com 3/14Julia Ferentinos, Samuel Hine, Stan Herman, Emily Dawn Long
Vera Wang
Zane Li
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Photo: Courtesy of Brendon Cook/BFA.com 6/14Joseph Altuzarra, Stan Herman
Colleen Allen
Wes Gordon, Paul Arnhold
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Photo: Courtesy of Brendon Cook/BFA.com 9/14Linda Fargo, Michael Kors, Lance LePere
Jason Schupbach, Aurora James, Willy Chavarria, David Ramirez
Ana Khouri
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Brendon Cook/BFA.com 12/14Rachel Scott
Julia Ferentinos, Emily Dawn Long
Aurora James
