The in-person event, originally scheduled for June 8, was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The winners will be revealed on CDFA.com and CFDA’s social channels the morning of Sept. 14, kicking off the official New York Fashion Week schedule.
“In this time of unprecedented challenge and change for our industry, we feel very strongly that it is important to recognize the nominees representing the best of fashion creativity,” said Tom Ford, chairman of the CFDA. “We look forward to returning to an in-person celebration honoring the American fashion industry in 2021.”
Steven Kolb, president and chief executive officer of the CFDA, added, “In lieu of the in-person event, we will be prioritizing new and existing programming to support our designer community during the global pandemic — by redirecting efforts toward next generation scholarships and making important changes to bring racial equity to the fashion industry. The annual gala serves as our largest fund-raiser, and our hope is to continue raising money to support this work through industry contributions.”
For this year only, the CFDA has decided to focus on designer nominee categories and forgo honoree awards.
The nominees for America Womenswear Designer of the Year are Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row; Brandon Maxwell; Gabriela Hearst; Marc Jacobs, and Tom Ford.
Competing for American Menswear Designer of the Year are Emily Adams Bode for Bode; Kerby Jean-Raymond for Pyer Moss; Thom Browne; Todd Snyder, and Tom Ford.
The American Accessories Designer of the Year contenders are Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row; Gabriela Hearst; Jennifer Fisher for Jennifer Fisher Jewelry; Stuart Vevers for Coach, and Telfar Clemens for Telfar.
In the American Emerging Designer of the Year categories, the nominees are Christoper John Rogers; Kenneth Nicolson; Peter Do; Reese Cooper, and Sarah Staudinger and George Augusto for Staud.
The 2020 CFDA Fashion awards feature two new nomination categories: Global Women’s Designer of the Year and Global Men’s Designer of the Year.
The Global Women’s Designer of the Year nominees are Daniel Lee for Bottega Veneta; Dries Van Noten; Miuccia Prada for Prada; Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino, and Rick Owens.
Vying for Global Men’s Designer of the Year are Craig Green; Dries Van Noten; Jonathan Anderson for Loewe; Kim Jones for Dior, and Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton.
Nominations for each award category were submitted prior to the March 13 deadline by the CFDA Fashion Awards Guild, which is comprised of members of the CFDA, along with top fashion retailers, journalists and stylists.