All the Best Looks From the ‘Oscars of Fashion’
Last night, fashion’s icons and biggest designers gathered at the Pool and the Grill for the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards (the CFDAs for short), hosted by Emily Blunt. Some winners we knew in advance.
Zendaya was always going to win this year’s Icon Award, for example, and Brother Vellies’s Aurora James received the Founder’s Award for the Fifteen Percent Pledge — a nonprofit organization that encourages retailers to pledge at least 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses. There were some firsts as well: Anya Taylor-Joy was honored as the inaugural Face of the Year, and in the 40 years that the CFDA Awards have been celebrated, Dapper Dan was the first Black designer to be recognized with the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award.
There were also some surprises. Following criticism that it tended to recognize the same old names, last year the CFDAs awarded the most diverse group of winners in its history; this year the group was even more diverse, with many firsts for Black designers. Christopher John Rogers, who won Emerging Designer of the Year last year, beat out some tough competition to become Womenswear Designer of the Year, making him the first Black designer to win the category. Telfar Clemens took home the award for Accessories Designer of the Year for the second year in a row, and Theophilio’s Edvin Thompson won Emerging Designer of the Year. Emily Bode won Menswear Designer of the Year. And last but not least, Grace Wales Bonner won International Men’s Designer of the Year, and Balenciaga’s Demna Gvasalia won International Women’s Designer of the Year.
But then there are the looks, of course! What did the celebs and designers wear on the red carpet? See all the outfits from the 2021 CFDA Awards below.
