Designers Christopher John Rogers and Emily Adams Bode for BODE have taken top honors at the annual Council of Fashion Designers of America awards, leading a young and diverse slate of honorees on fashion’s big night.
Rogers, 27, whose bold purple ensemble was chosen by Vice President Kamala Harris for her inauguration, won for womenswear and Bode for menswear at the glittery ceremony — the fashion industry’s version of the Oscars — which was held in person Wednesday night after a virtual ceremony in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The previously announced Fashion Icon award — the most visible celebrity award of the annual event — went to Zendaya, for what the CFDA called her “global impact on fashion.”
The organization noted in a statement announcing the award that the actor-singer, 25, had been a supporter of both emerging and established designers. It also cited her clothing line Daya by Zendaya, launched in 2013 and featuring “gender-fluid designs in a full-size range.”
Zendaya was introduced by a former recipient of the award, Iman, who noted she was the youngest yet to receive the honor, The Associated Press reported.
“Fashion did something special for me,” Zendaya told the crowd, citing “the extraordinary gift of transformation, the ability to be confident and embody all these different characters and be literally anyone I wanted to be.”
A spokesperson for labels like Lancôme and Valentino, Zendaya is currently starring in “Dune.” In 2020 she won the Emmy for lead actress in a drama for her performance in “Euphoria.”
Previous Fashion Icon recipients have included Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Pharrell Williams, Rihanna, and Jennifer Lopez.
Actor Anya Taylor-Joy, best known for the hit Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit,” was named Face of the Year, a new award this year.
Introduced by presenter Cara Delevingne as a “face that launched a thousand shipments of chess sets,” Taylor-Joy thanked “everyone in this room that’s allowed me to learn about fashion,” calling it “the greatest education I could ask for.”
The accessories design award went to Telfar Clemens for Telfar, and the award for American emerging designer went to Edvin Thompson for Theophilio.
Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga won the award for international womenswear designer and Grace Wales Bonner for Wales Bonner took the prize for international menswear designer.
The Geoffrey Beene lifetime achievement award went to Dapper Dan. The Harlem-based designer was the first Black designer to receive the honor.
Actor Emily Blunt hosted the proceedings at THE POOL + THE GRILL in the Seagram Building on Park Avenue.
Nominations for the designer categories were submitted by the CFDA Fashion Awards Guild, made up of members of the CFDA, along with fashion retailers, journalists, and stylists.
