Stella McCartney Goes Off (in a Good Way) at the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund Awards
Going to the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards is a bit like being set up on a blind date with the two parental institutions masterminding the evening’s pairings. “You never know what you’re going to get,” said actress Ashley Greene who, thankfully, landed on the arm of Peter Som. “They sent the dresses over before Peter came over,” she said. “I went through and he came over and we of course got along.”
“I did a contemporary dance routine to win her over,” the designer mused.
The pre-arranged pas de deux can be even more daunting for the young designers who have the added pressure of competing for the evening’s awards. These include mentorship for all and $300,000 for the grand prize while the runners up receive $100,000 each. Those kind of sums can really make or break a upstart’s career. (Worth noting is that since its inception in 2004, this program has issued $4.1 million to 33 design houses such as Altuzarra, Public School, and Proenza Schouler.) Fortunately there were great “first dates” for all as Edie Parker’s Brett Heyman arrived with Victoria’s Secret Angels Alessandra Ambrosio and Lily Aldridge, Wes Gordon with Frankie Rayder, and milliner Gigi Burris with Constance Jablonski. There were also a few comedians in the house (Ben Stiller, Seth Meyers, Jenny Slate among them) to help keep things in perspective. The latter wore a pretty floral dress by finalist Tanya Taylor. “It’s really, really stimulating,” said Slate of the event. “There’s beauty everywhere. My biggest thing beauty trick is to use deodorant. And just to be clean. Be clean if you’re going to wear such a pretty dress.”
Ever the clever Brit, Stella McCartney, wearing short shift and creepers of her own design, used humor to defuse her anxiety over her role as the keynote speaker. “I think nervous is an understatement,” she said before being introduced onstage by Meyers. “Seth just said to me [in American accent], ‘You know what if it makes you feel any better, I do this stuff all the time and it never gets any easier.’ No, Seth. That doesn’t make me feel any better! Why would that make me feel any better?! That you do this all the time and you’re still crapping your pants.”
Jitters and speeches aside, it was a lovely evening and one that saw shoe designer extraordinaire Paul Andrew (his date was Joan Smalls) taking home top prize and jewelry designer Eva Fehren of Eva Zuckerman and womenswear designer Ryan Roche as the runners up.
