Tuesday, March 24, 2009

CFDA Award Nominations:It's the Fabulosity Factor



Again , we have the usual suspects. Just goes to show you how quickly a year passes. It's so quick that the date changes , but the nominees stay the same. Slight variations in category placement but otherwise the roster remains unchanged. A pox on the CFDA; but that is a separate story... but one that will get it's fair scratch.
The first big joke is The Director's Special Tribute Award ,which goes to Michelle Obama. The New York fashion industry and the CFDA are determined to make the First Lady the Mother Theresa of New York fashion....whether she wants it or not. She was invited to every front row during the 5 ring circus that was Fashion Week. When only her lame , publicity starved secretary sat in for her (and grabbed every photo-op possible) they've decided to give her an award to apply even more pressure to show up. Michelle Obama doesn't have a favorite fashion designer any more than God does. Her choices are random when you consider one minute it's Narciso Rodriguez(nominated),Jason Wu(nominated, but why/how) Thakoon Panichgul(you guessed it, nominated)Alexander Wang(nominated and already a past winner), Isabel Toledo (NOT nominated, which shows just how brain dead the nominating committee and members are) and J. Crew (unqualified for nomination, as it is a company and not a designer, per se.) Mrs. Obama looks like the litmus test for nominations.....
Then there's Proenza Schouler( for accessories that are less than a year old , and probably the 3rd or 4th time consecutively they've been up for an award,also having won in a tie with Oscar de la Renta) who are perennial nominees. They just seem to slither from category to category. As long as they have their looks and Anna Wintour's blessing , they'll stay on the roster.
Marc Jacobs for menswear and the International Award for Louis Vuitton. Last year he was up for Women's designer of the Year, and also the previous year. It's a merry go round of the same players every year. This multiple category stuff is way over the top.
There's the "Shove'em Down your Throat " nominees like Rodarte who, like a noxious hairball, keep coming up for the past 2 or 3 years. Here we go again. The press is determined to make them the sisters of the tattered shroud, so back they come.
Alexander Wang, Thakoon Panichgul and Jason Wu are the new token nominees. All Asian , all yearlings and all derivative. Jason Wu and Crew are the text book example of how you get nominated. You get one unappealing , ill fitted gown on a First Ladies' Inauguration, get press up the ass and you're an automatic designer of IMPORTANCE. His sales have gone from maybe a few hundred thousand dollars a year ago to a whopping 4-5million as of now. We ALL know this is a fiction. The press prints it, people and the CFDA eat it up and he's considered the next Oscar de la Renta. Why isn't Oscar nominated. He's a force with the collections and the sales figures to back him up.
Alexander Wang is a shameless t shirt designing self promoter... a Fashionista blog Blob. Thakoon has more talent than the other two , but so what.He is still marginal in my book and in the books of many across the country. It's an insider's award show .
Anna Sui getting the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award is very smart. She is a hard worker with discipline and staying power. She is the most worthy of them all.
So it should prove to be another stellar evening of glamor, power and fabulosity. I only wish that it was worth all the time and money wasted.
The next day will be like the day before. The industry will still be in the toilet and shrinking by the minute.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

So true. I'm still baffled as to why Donna Karan was not nominated for Women's Wear Designer. Her Fall 2009 collection was one of New York's best. But I really shouldn't be. It appears that this award is all about the committee giving each other a trophy. Like the year Diane von Futzenberg was given a lifetime achievement award. For what? Producing overseas and being the spokesperson for American designers? What's wrong with this picture? The majority of members are no longer in business and Steven Kolb who works under Futzenberg is useless and only a yes man. No direction, and no strategy. CFDA (Corrupt Fashion Designers Award).

Anonymous said...

please write this on the runway! you need to be heard!

Anonymous said...

Don't know who you are - and what you do - but you're spot on. It appears the CFDA is only promoting themselves and the people who pony up with $$$