In response to the Black Lives Matter Movement, Fashion Bomb Daily took the initiative to outline a list of the Top 100 Black Designers the World should know. Understanding that 100 was not enough room to fit the depth and talent in the black community, we created a 2nd list, and are adding to it, weekly (we are currently at 62; if you would like your brand added, email thefashionbomb@gmail.com). That’s a total of 162 designers, who have dressed celebrities, been worn on red carpets, and created burgeoning businesses.
Even with all this new information, the CFDA continues to go with the same old, same old. In an article in the New York Times by Vanessa Friedman, the writer reveals that the same names from past years are nominated for awards this year:
Nominees for Womenswear designer of the Year? Brandon Maxwell, Marc Jacobs, Gabriela Hearst, and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Tom Ford.
Menswear? Kerby Jean Raymond of Pyer Moss, Tom Ford (again), Thom Browne, and Todd Snyder.
Accessories? Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Telfar, Gabriela Hearst are among some of the names.
While Christopher John Rogers is nominated in the Emerging Designer Category, and Virgil Abloh is nominated for Global Menswear Design, it simply seems as if it’s the same old names we’ve heard and seen before. While all the nominated designers are extremely talented and befitting of the nominations, what about letting in someone new?
Friedman notes that many designers nominated, including Telfar, Jean-Raymond, Marc Jacobs, and Tom Ford have all won or been nominated several times over before. She writes, “Maybe [the CFDA Awards] can become something more than simply notches in a designer’s belt, or an insider’s club that may feel, to those looking in, like a secretive fashion cabal.”
We at Fashion Bomb Daily definitely sent in our nominations, which included Sergio Hudson, Laquan Smith, and Victor Glemaud–designers who have dressed the A-list and made names for themselves in the industry. Perhaps there simply aren’t enough nominations for these designers. But still, Friedman suggests creating a new or special category, which I support.
Read more here.
What do you think?
*Stay tuned for updates on The Fabys Awards at TheFabys.com.
