CFDA Awards 2012: “The Oscars of Fashion”

The 2012 Council of Fashion Designers Awards, aka the greatest night in fashion after the Met Gala, has come and gone and with it, the designers, models, style media, and celebrities have made a grand and glam fashion statement.

What is The CFDA?

The Council of Fashion Designers of America is a non-profit trade organization for North American designers in fashion and accessories based in the United States. The organization currently oversees over 300 fashion designers. The organization was founded in 1962 to advance the stature of fashion design and promote the acceptance of fashion as an art form.  Since 2009, the group’s president is designer Diane von Furstenberg and its Executive Director is Steven Kolb. It also promotes worthwhile causes and has established a Vogue Fashion Fund to help fashion designers get off the ground.

If the CFDA is the leading organization of fashion, then the CFDA Awards might just be the Oscars of fashion.  The awards show, which honors excellence in fashion design, brings out the best designers, celebrities, models, and media personnel from America and all over the world and the event is held in the Lincoln Center in New York City.

Who Won What?

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were the darlings of this year’s CFDA Awards, as their brand The Row won for Best Womenswear Designer of The Year.  The 25-year olds really seem to know their style set.  They were up against Marc Jacobs and Proenza Schouler.  They also stood out in their own fashion, wearing statement dresses their brand.  Mary-Kate’s hair was dyed brown.

Other winners include: Billy Reid for Menswear, Reed Krakoff for Accessories, Joseph Altuzarra for the Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent in Womenswear, Phillip Lim for the Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent in Menswear and Tabitha Simmons for the Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent in Accessories. Other standout awards included the Lifetime Achievement Award given to Tommy Hilfiger and the Fashion Icon Award for Johnny Depp.

Who Wore What?

Lots of designers, models, and celebrities were in attendance for the big event, but only a few really stood out among the fashion crowd.  For celebs, Zoe Saldana stunned in black panel Prabal Gurung, a designer she loves and has worn many times before.  Jessica Chastain also worked Prabal Gurung but in white with a sweet little cape.  Kate Bosworth proved why the fashion world has fallen in love with Joseph Altuzarra, wearing an embellished patterned dress with a cutout showing killer abs.  The night was also full of fashion surprises and not through winners and nominees.  Dakota Fanning, prone to wearing Marc Jacobs, opted for a Proenza Schouler frock.  Anna Wintour, prone to wearing Chanel, opted for Marc Jacobs instead.

The night wouldn’t be complete without the models, of course.  Arizona Muse looked better at this red carpet event than FashionTV has ever seen her in a textured gray mini and stiletto boots. Joan Smalls is privy to wearing detailed ensembles, but this time around she stunned in something simple--a minimalist white dress from Michael Kors. Karolina Kurkova stunned in something completely different from her recent golden embellishment craze--a printed dress. But perhaps Hilary Rhoda took the award for best dressed model of the evening--stunning in a Rebecca Minkoff gown with blue and white cutouts.

 

Via: fashiontv.com