2018 CFDA Nominees!

The CFDA revealed the nominees for the 2018 CFDA Fashion Awards for the first time via Instagram, with Candice Huffine, Martha Hunt, Young Paris, Todd Snyder, Irene Neuwirth and Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia of Monse making the digital announcements on the CFDA’s account @CFDA.
The nominees for Womenswear Designer of the Year Award are Raf Simons for Calvin Klein, Gabriela Hearst, Marc Jacobs, Virgil Abloh for Off-White, and Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row. Menswear Designer of the Year Award nominees are Raf Simons for Calvin Klein, Virgil Abloh for Off-White, James Jebbia for Supreme, Thom Browne and Tom Ford. For the Accessory Designer of the Year Award, the nominees are Paul Andrew, Stuart Vevers for Coach, Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavriel for Mansur Gavriel, Irene Neuwirth, and Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row.

Mike Amiri for Amiri, Laura Vassar Brock and Kristopher Brock for Brock Collection, Aurora James for Brother Vellies, Kerby Jean-Raymond for Pyer Moss and Sander Lak for Sies Marjan have been nominated for the Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent. The winner of this prize receives cash — and crystal — support from Swarovski.
As for the honorary awards of the night, Diane von Furstenberg will receive the Swarovski Award for Positive Change. Narciso Rodriguez will receive the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award. Carolina Herrera will receive the Founder’s Award in honor of CFDA founder Eleanor Lambert. Edward Enninful will receive the Media Award in honor of Eugenia Sheppard. Donatella Versace will receive the International Award.

Issa Rae, best known for her HBO show “Insecure,” for which she has won two consecutive Best Actress Golden Globe nominations, is hosting the awards June 4 at the Brooklyn Museum. Rae is the first female host of the awards in nine years — Tracey Ullman, Fran Lebowitz, Ellen Barkin, Christine Baranski and Sandra Bernhard have done the honors — and the first-ever African-American host.

It’s the first time in the CFDA Fashion Awards’ 37-year history that the ceremony is being held in Brooklyn (the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund gala was held in Brooklyn last fall), which can be interpreted as a symbol of the organization’s awareness of the cultural moment and willingness to buck tradition.
Last month, the CFDA made a concerted effort toward inclusivity for this year’s awards when the organization’s chief executive officer and president Steven Kolb sent out an e-mail reminding voters to consider to race, gender and inclusivity when putting forth nominees. “We truly want the event to celebrate the full creative spectrum and richness of American fashion,” he wrote in the e-mail. “Just think of how much fashion is changing, and the diversity of our industry. Designers with broad cultural backgrounds and political ideas are expressing their experiences and beliefs in their collections. Their work deserves greater acknowledgment, acceptance and visibility.” The awards have been criticized for including the same names on the ballots year after, though the nominees are based on submissions by the CFDA Fashion Awards Guild, made up of the 500-plus members of the CFDA, as well as retailers, journalists and stylists.