Rachel Zoe becomes one of the newest Board members of the CFDA and what career moment did Michael Kors say was better than his bar mitzvah?
The organisation – a not-for-profit trade association of over 350 of America’s foremost fashion and accessory designers – admitted 26 new members including Rachel, Joseph Altuzarra of Altuzarra, Diane von Furstenberg’s Yvan Mispelaere and Jean-Michel Cazabat.
The CFDA also extended Diane von Furstenberg’s run as president for another two years with the designer first taking on the role in 2009.
CFDA chief executive officer Steven Kolb told WWD, “Diane has done an excellent job as CFDA president. The time and resources she gives and the vision she has created is a huge benefit for our organisation and industry.”
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen took home the biggest prize at the recent CFDA awards.
The former child TV stars were selected as the country’s top womenswear designers for their collection The Row. Jessica Chastain announced the 25-year-old twins as winners at the Lincoln Centre in New York.
Other winners included Billy Reid for Menswear Designer of the Year, Reed Krakoff for Accessory Designer of the Year, 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.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Tommy Hilfiger and the Fashion Icon Award was given to Hollywood star Johnny Depp.
The 52-year-old designer – whose eponymous fashion empire went from bankruptcy in 1993 to its current billion-dollar Stock Exchange listing – says finding out he had the highest ever IPO for a US fashion brand topped his bar mitzvah as the best moment of his life.
He said, “It beat my bar mitzvah. Although, as I was just about to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, I looked down and saw my mother say, ‘Straighten your tie.’
“I love what I do. I certainly never planned on ringing that bell. If you keep your eye on the ball, you do what you do and you do it well.”
Michael – who is a judge on long-running reality show ‘Project Runway’ alongside Heidi Klum and Nina Garcia – added that taking over as director for Celine in 1977 was the best career move he ever made.
He reflected, “It was an interesting time because Marc [Jacobs] got Louis Vuitton and Narciso [Rodriguez] went to Cerruti. A lot of people in Paris thought it was the invasion of the Americans…
“The Concorde made it doable but I was still fried – off the plane and onto a meeting. Certainly with a behemoth company like LVMH, suddenly people said: ‘Wait a minute. Michael Kors isn’t just an American brand. It’s global.’
