Last November, Thom Browne hosted his first CFDA Awards as chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America at the American Museum of Natural History. There was a huge whale on the ceiling and tiny ones floating on the crusts of the chicken pot pies for dinner. There was Anne Hathaway in a Ralph Lauren denim gown waxing poetic about the joys of fashion. And there was Serena Williams accepting her Fashion Icon award from the previous year’s Fashion Innovation award winner Kim Kardashian.
The Awards are returning this year on October 28 and will once again be hosted at the Museum. Amazon Fashion will continue to serve as the presenting partner, while Shop with Google will present the American Emerging Designer of the Year award. The nominees and honorees will be announced at a later date. Last year Browne paired each presenting celebrity with a designer—Ayo Edebiri delivered an SNL-worthy introduction to the Accessories Designer of the Year category alongside Prabal Gurung—so expect similar levels of entertainment value. Will Khaite’s Catherine Holstein come back for a third Award? Will Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen win for their “if you know, you know” It-bags once again? And who will be this year’s Fashion Icon? Watch this space to find out.