On the 50th anniversary of the American Image Awards, the American Apparel and Footwear Association pulled out all the stops at Gotham Hall Tuesday night to honor those who have exemplified leadership, excellence and outstanding achievement in all sectors of the apparel and footwear industry.
Zac Posen, executive vice president, creative director of Gap Inc. and chief creative officer of Old Navy, was named Designer of the Year; Ruben Toledo, the artist, received the Icon Award; Fabletics was named Company of the Year; Avery Dennison received the award for Global Innovator; Afirm Group was named Eco-Steward of the Year; Josue Solano and Seth Campbell of BBC International won the Trailblazer award, and Timberland took home the Fashion Maverick Award.
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“This is a really strong moment and is a great opportunity to reflect on our wins and accomplishments and things we’ve been able to do. And frankly to inspire people for the next 50 years,” Steve Lamar, president and chief executive officer of the AAFA, told WWD. He said the gala serves as a fundraiser for its longtime partner, the CFDA Foundation, which has an array of grants supporting local manufacturing. “It’s just a great blend of inspirational people from all over the industry to come together and share the same stage,” said Lamar.
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AAFA represents more than 1,110 brands and serves as a unified voice on key legislative and regulatory issues in Washington, D.C. and globally.
Among the evening’s guests were Molly Ringwald, Katie Holmes, Steven Kolb, Daniella Kallmeyer, Maria Cornejo, Jeffrey Banks, Nick Graham, Stan Herman, Bibhu Mohapatra, Abbey Doneger, Nicole Fischelis, Susanne Bartsch, Emma Gage, Cynthia Rowley, Evan Hirsch, Hal Rubenstein, Bracken Darrell, Peter Som, and Ken Downing.
Alina Cho, the TV journalist and author, served as emcee of the evening’s festivities.
Holmes presented the Designer of the Year award to her friend Posen.
“It’s so full circle to be here,” said Posen. “I started my career when my mom said, ‘get a job,’ in 1996 about four blocks up from here at Nicole Miller, and I did my second fashion show at this venue. And when I came to look at the venue, it had never been used. It was a washing machine showroom. Literally. This beautiful room was filled with washing machines. ‘Can we move them if we want to do a fashion show here?’ So it feels very [full circle] being here, and it’s probably one of the few days that I’m not wearing Timberlands, which I wear every day.”
Posen said he is “beyond proud to be an American designer and to be part of this incredible community.”
“I’m deeply honored to be recognized here in my hometown of New York. Creativity is a lifelong pursuit, and I am so fortunate and lucky to have had parents that always made sure that it was the air that I breathed. My mother is not here tonight. She passed away peacefully at home this week. I’m here tonight because Susan, in her typical fashion, would have wanted to have things keep moving — a matriarch in the fullest sense, giving, generous, fiercely intelligent and deeply beloved. Susan was a mentor, a champion and a widely respected figure to many. Valued as much for her whip smart counsel and for her generous spirit. She was the wind behind the sails of a profoundly creative family, and she took fierce pride in nurturing the artistic lives of those closest to her, and it is that nurturement that has helped me get to where I am today.”
Thanking his Gap team, Posen said, “It is a privilege to be creative every day and to actively engage in the cultural conversation that gives me so much inspiration daily, and I’m grateful for all of the incredible partnerships and all of the moving parts, many that allow us to achieve creativity and scale. It has just been two of the most outstanding years of my life. It is about storytelling, it is about self-expression. It is about making the world a more joyful and colorful place.”
Artist and illustrator Toledo, who won the Icon Award, was honored for his artistry and storytelling. He also designed the American Image Awards statuette with his late wife, designer Isabel Toledo.
Discussing their work together, Toledo said, “Isabel believed deeply. She believed that elegance was not about spectacle. It was about precision, about love and about intention in every stitch. So to stand here tonight is secretly overwhelming because this was never mine. This was always ours. Isabel and I were like an oyster which creates a pearl. You don’t need to separate an oyster to discover which side to make a pearl. We were just very grateful to make gems and to share them.
“I thank very much our design community here today, giving us a space to create for 50 years freely and from the heart with sincerity. Every love affair ends in heartbreak. If you’re lucky enough to have one that lasts long, eventually one of us will have to leave the other. But I’m here to tell you, love lives on after death and survives the great transition. Isabel is always with me. I carry her into every line and every shape and every color I paint, and every idea that finds its way into the world,” said Toledo.
In accepting the Global Innovator award, Bill Toney, vice president, Advanced Technology, Solutions Group, at Avery Dennison, said, that the company, which started as a label maker, “small but essential to one’s brand’s story,” is only at the beginning of what’s possible. “This progress isn’t ours alone. It’s shared among the companies in this room, the ones pushing boundaries and challenging us all to think bigger. It’s a shared journey and one where we’re learning, building and winning together as an industry,” said Toney.
Nina Flood, global brand president of Timberland, who accepted the Fashion Maverick Award, said, “This award is on behalf of the Timberland team, many of whom are here today, and I couldn’t do anything without the amazing team that we have…It’s kind of fun to be recognized as a fashion maverick. It’s a proud moment for us, because Timberland has never been a brand that quietly follows. We lead with conviction. We back it up with craft, and we make products that earn their place, built with intent, made for the real world.”
Adam Goldenberg, cofounder and chief executive officer of Fabletics, accepted the Company of the Year Award. “I am so honored to accept on behalf of the entire Fabletics team and the millions of customers who inspire everything we do. We started Fabletics with a simple belief: the world’s best leggings shouldn’t cost $100….From Day One we set out to build not just a great product, but a different kind of business, a membership model built around personalization and value with the customer at the center of every decision. A little over a decade later, it is so incredible to see how far that small idea has come.
“Today with more than 3 million active members, 120 stores, a business that has scaled over a billion dollars in revenue, it’s been humbling and incredible, but what I’m most proud of isn’t the scale, it’s the community. It’s the millions of loyal members and super fans who choose Fabletics to be their go-to brand and count on us to help them show up every day with confidence, style and ease,” said Goldenberg.