Fashion Notebook

What the 2008 CFDA Nominations Tell Us About American Fashion

Another spring, another awards season for the Council of Fashion Designers of America. We always look forward to this announcement, and yet we always walk away from the press release disappointed. Why? Well, because year after year, it all just feels the same and it's gotten to the point where we feel we could pick out the nominees, blindfolded and drunk, and probably get them right about 90% of the time. But first, the nominees.

In case you haven't heard, the group, whose prez is none other than that lullaby-talking Diane Von Furstenberg, has announced the following nominations for 2008: [Note: The Swarovski awards recognize emerging design talent.]

Womenswear Designer of the Year                                   Swarovski Award for Womenswear
Francisco Costa (Calvin Klein)                                            Kate & Laura Mulleavy (Rodarte)
Lazaro Hernandez & Jack McCollough (Proenza Schouler)     Thakoon Panichgul (Thakoon)
Marc Jacobs                                                                      Alexander Wang

Menswear Designer of the Year                                        Swarovski Award for Menswear
Thom Browne                                                                   Patrik Ervell
Michael Bastian                                                                Tim Hamilton
Tom Ford                                                                         Scott Sternberg (Band of Outsiders)

Accessory Designer of the Year                                        Swarovski Award for Accessory Design   Tory Burch                                                                       Philip Crangi
Marc Jacobs                                                                      Justin Giunta (Subversive Jewelry)
Michael Kors                                                                     Joy Gryson

Well, congratulations to all the winners. Then again, we're sure they've heard it all before. Actually, they have. Let's take a quick, two-year trip down memory lane, just with the marquee awards.

CFDA Nominees 2007                                                     CFDA Nominees 2006     

Womenswear:                                                                  Womenswear:
Oscar de  la Renta                                                            Francisco Costa (Calvin Klein)
L. Hernandez and J. McCollough (Proenza Schouler)            L. Hernandez and J. McCollough (PS)
Marc Jacobs                                                                     Marc Jacobs

Menswear:                                                                       Menswear:
Steven Cox and Daniel Silver (Duckie Brown)                      Thom Browne
Ralph Lauren                                                                    Ralph Lauren
Italo Zucchelli (Calvin Klein)                                              Alexandre Plokhov (Cloak)

Accessory Designer of the Year:                                          Accessory Designer of the Year:
Marc Jacobs                                                                      Marc Jacobs    
Michael Kors                                                                     Michael Kors
Derek Lam                                                                        Tom Binns

Notice anything? Like maybe the fact that the nominees in the
womenswear category have remained virtually unchanged (with the
exception of Oscar de la Renta) for the past three years? Or that Michael Kors (pictured, right, doing his Project Runway duties) and Marc Jacobs have been the accessory designer of the year nominees for three years running, as well? The only thing that seems to have changed much at all is the men's category.

In his statement regarding this year's nominees, CFDA executive director Steven Kolb lauds the way in which "this year's nominees and honorees reflect the strength and vitality of the American fashion industry."

Really? It seems to us that it suggests the industry is rather stagnant, with only the same three names worthy of distinction in each of the categories. And let's not forget that chief among those names, Mr. Marc Jacobs, seemed poised, only a season ago, to take his whole operation to Paris. But we digress.

In essence, it would seem that the CFDA nominations this year, and as we've demonstrated above, the past several years, prove that American fashion is a pretty rarified echelon in which only a standard round of top names compete for industry prizes. For an industry where the bread and butter is creativity, the stagnancy (why does that word keep coming to us?) of the nominations list seems to imply a less thoughtful approach. That said, if asked which designers we thought were tops in American design, we'd be hard pressed to come up with a different list. Perhaps the fault then, dear readers, is not within the CFDA nominating committee but within our American fashion selves.

It's hard for American designers—hell, for ANY designers—to become established like these award winners anymore, given the difficulties of getting funding and the fact that we live in a world that no longer seems to care about the development of talent as much as they do about constantly having something new, something chic, and something with a name that others will recognize. To that end, CFDA (and Vogue) are to be commended for their work to bring notoriety to new design labels, as they have with Proenza Schouler, who now top the ranks of their regular awards, having graduated from the Swarovski Award for Womenswear. But it's hard to see any kind of sea change in American fashion coming—and perhaps no one wants it—given that these guys are always at the top of the list for women's design.

Here's hoping that maybe Christian Siriano, recent Project Runway winner (whom we can't help ourselves but to shill for), will liven up those ranks in the coming years.

And full disclaimer: This post is not a statement, by Fashion Notebook, that we think any of the nominated designers aren't talented, or are not worthy of awards. Rather, it is a statement that we've seen these same people getting awards and nominations for years, and we're wondering why there's no one else in the American fashion ring worthy of such distinction by the CFDA.

Couture Contest: Who Will Be Wearing These On The Red Carpet?

Let's stuff those bad dreams about The Recession for a moment and take a gander at the surreality of couture week! While more film is shuttling in over at Style.com, it's been a fun romp over the past few days through the high-concept runways of Christian Dior (which I've dubbed the "Baltimore's Miss Crabs" Collection), Chanel, Christian Lacroix, and Armani Privé.

But I guess we're never too far from bad dreams, are we? After all, while the ladies attending these shows are part of that rarified market that will buy whatever they want whenever they want it (cue the "Lola" theme), the reality is that the shows are little more than a big marketing stunt to drum up interest in the storied houses, and their designers.

For the most part, the only time we'll see a couture gown will be at a Costume Institute retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or, of course on the red carpet for big ticket events like the Oscars. But wait, the Oscars might not even happen this year, meaning that there potentially could be the elimination of millions of consumer impressions for these brands across the loads of magazines and TV stations that cover this stuff. The horror!

But let's assume that the actresses will be ticking their way across that crimson spread, and that Ryan Seacrest will be there to catch it all (with a bunch of quips sure to prompt catty "outings" across the blogosphere for the day after). Who do you think can pull off these tricky designer looks? Drop your submissions in the comments box or shoot me a plug at enewman@brandweek.com. Happy guessing!

Though I would guess Privé is a lock for Katie Holmes in her next near-comatose red carpet/"news" interview gig. If you haven't seen, check it out here. "Mad Money," indeed!

             ARMANI PRIVÉ                    CHRISTIAN LACROIX                 CHRISTIAN DIOR

Adiesel "Successful Wastes of Time" Contest Results!

So the submissions have been sifted through, and here are our favorite responses to the question: “What’s the most successful way to waste your time?”

We’ll have to see if any of these make it into Adiesel’s “83 Ways to Successfully Waste Your Time” campaign due out next February in support of their new collaboration collection with Diesel.

Until then, here are your top 5 “successful” wastes of time:

1. Train a pigeon to deliver all of your inter-office mail (see carrier pigeon, right, sadly extinct). Hey, anything’s faster than the mailroom.

2. Googling ex-boyfriends/girlfriends/partners in order to silently triumph in your decision to drop them, or to breathe a sigh of relief at the bullet you dodged when they dropped you.

3. Surfing Fresh Direct for wines and new recipes. Because, you know, we still have another food-filled holiday to look forward to.

4. Facebook (for game-play, stalking and “social networking,” whatever that is).

5. Lifetime movie marathons. Because it’s good to know when Delta Burke’s biological clock is ticking, AND when it’s exploded. For more on that, check out the greatest film of the Lifetime genre. Ever.

Honorable Mention: “Listening to an aging baby boomer trapped in the 1960s.”

Adiesel: Upcoming Campaign Update

This just in! 

The campaign supporting the launch of the Adidas Originals Denim by Diesel collection will be titled "83 Original Ways to Successfully Waste Your Time."

Since the campaign is launching in tandem with the product—which hits Adidas Originals stores worldwide Feb. 1—there aren't anymore details coming from Adi HQ  in Herzogenaurach, Germany, and we won't be able to check out any of the creative until next year, I'm more than intrigued to know how this one will go off.

Seems like the perfect fodder for a write-in contest, especially since I know you guys are "successfully" wasting your time this rainy (at least in NYC) Cyber Monday doing your holiday shopping!

Either leave me a comment, or drop me a line here with your suggestions for the best "ways to successfully waste your time." The top 5 will be posted later today, so get yours in ASAP!

(FYI: Submissions won't won't be attributed to the sender. That way, no one has to know how you, in particular, "successfully" waste your time.)