Willy Chavarria named Men’s Designer of the Year

Just as the Oscars recognise the best in film and the Grammys recognise the best in the music industry, the CFDA Fashion Awards promote the best in fashion. The CFDA stands for the Council of Fashion Designers of America, an organisation founded in 1962 that promotes fashion through various education and funding programmes for those starting out in the fashion industry.

The American Museum of Natural History in New York was the venue for the much-anticipated Fashion Awards, a celebration hosted this year by Cynthia Erivo. Supported by Amazon Fashion, the event included the new Amazon Innovation Award, in addition to the traditional awards that recognise American design leaders.

Willy Chavarria was once again crowned American Men’s Fashion Designer of the Year, taking the trophy from the charismatic Troye Sivan. Chavarria beat out high-calibre competition that included Mike Amiri, Emily Adams Bode Aujla, Thom Browne and Todd Snyder.

Rachel Scott, the talented mind behind Diotima, not only won Google’s Emerging Designer of the Year award last year, but this time she was recognised as American Womenswear Designer of the Year, an honour presented by Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Among her competitors were established names such as Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler and Tory Burch.

In the accessories section, Raúl López de Luar took the Accessories Designer of the Year award, up against titans such as Ana Khouri and Stuart Vevers for Coach. The Emerging Designer of the Year category was won by Henry Zankov, who shone alongside other up-and-coming talents such as Jackson Wiederhoeft and Connor McKnight. Erykah Badu was hailed as the CFDA 2024 Fashion Icon, while the Eugenia Shepard Media Award in Honour went to legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz, who was recognised by Anna Wintour.

Don’t miss the full list of winners below:

• Best Male Designer – Willy Chavarria
• Best Women’s Designer – Rachel Scott (Diotima)
• Accessories Designer – Raul Lopez (Luar)
• Best International Designer – Daniel Roseberry (Schiaparelli)
• Positive Change Award – Michael Kors
• Innovation Award – Coach
• Founders Award in honour of Eleanor Lambert – the award went to fashion journalist and editor Hamish Bowles
• Media Award – Annie Leibovitz
• Fashion Icon Award – Erykah Badu

Willy Chavarria SS25: ‘America’.