2009 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion: Dries van Noten
On Wednesday, September 9, 2009 the Couture Council of The Museum at FIT honored Dries van Noten with the 2009 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion at their fourth benefit luncheon at New York City's Cipriani 42 Street. The Museum at FIT Couture Council's glamorous annual luncheon is the first event of the New Yorks Fall Fashion Week.
Previous recipients of the Couture Council Artistry of Fashion Award have been Isabel Toledo in 2008 (a prescient choice made before Mrs. Obama selected her for her Inaugural outfit), Alber Elbaz of Lanvin in 2007, and Ralph Rucci, the recipient of the first award in 2006. Recipients of the award are chosen by the Couture Council Advisory Committee, an independent group consisting of curators, editors, and retailers. Members include Pamela Golbin, curator of the Musée de la Mode, Akiko Fukai, director and chief curator of the Kyoto Costume Institute, Glenda Bailey, editor-in-chief of Harpers Bazaar, Hamish Bowles, editor of Vogue, Ken Downing of Neiman Marcus, Linda Fargo of Bergdorf Goodman, Julie Gilhart of Barneys New York, and others. The group is chaired by Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT.
"Dries van Noten creates clothes of extraordinary beauty and originality," says Steele. "His sense of color, print and decoration are unequaled. Dries clothes are not for one season. Like works of art, they continue to speak to us across time and space. He has created a unique personal signature, but at the same time, he facilitates the wearers individual sense of style."
Simon Doonan, the famously witty creative director for Barneys New York, emceed the event, hosted by the founding Couture Council Chairmen Yaz Hernandez, Liz Peek, and Sarah Wolfe. Charlotte Moss is the Founding Luncheon Chairman. Those attending the award luncheon included Glenda Bailey, Hamish Bowles, Nina Garcia, Daphne Guinness, Iman, Carson Kresley, Ralph Rucci, Andre Leon Talley, Isabel and Ruben Toledo and Diane von Furstenberg. The Luncheon Chairmen include Vanessa Fata, Kimberly Kassel, Nadine Kasuga, and Jacqueline Sackler. The Junior Chairmen include Tennessee Hamilton, Amanda Hearst, Alexis Tobin, and Whitney Wolfe (all committees in formation).
For more information on the Couture Council, call (212) 217-4532 or email us.