2024 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion: Simon Porte Jacquemus
The Couture Council of The Museum at FIT (MFIT) honored Simon Porte Jacquemus, founder and designer at the fashion house JACQUEMUS, with its 2024 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion during its annual luncheon on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City. The event heralded the arrival of New York Fashion Week, with proceeds benefiting The Museum at FIT, the only museum in New York dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion. Couture Council Board of Director members, Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz, founding Editor-in-chief of Vogue Arabia and founder of D'NA, and Sarah Wetenhall, president and owner of The Colony Palm Beach, served as co-chairs, and for the fifth consecutive year, Nordstrom was the presenting sponsor.
Simon Porte Jacquemus, who was born in the South of France and is now based in Paris, established his eponymous brand in 2009 with no formal training, dedicating the brand to the memory of his late mother. A passion for art and the decorative arts informs his creativity, inspiring the JACQUEMUS men's and women's ready-to-wear and accessories collections that reference French culture and universal gestures of beauty: from fine art photography, painting, and sculpture. Indulging in romantic notions of youth, love, and other facets of human nature, Simon Porte Jacquemus is known for his provocative approach to fashion shows and theatrical runway productions that take place in unexpected locations. Above and beyond his role as a fashion designer, Jacquemus’s vocation as a creative director and imagemaker is diffused throughout the JACQUEMUS universe. Simon Porte Jacquemus was the recipient of the 2014 LVMH Prize finalist, 2015 LVMH Special Jury Prize, 2024 Neiman Marcus Award for Innovation in the Field of Fashion; and most recently he was decorated as a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres), the highest French ministerial award for cultural achievement–the youngest fashion designer to ever receive this honor.
"I am really happy to receive the 2024 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion supported by Nordstrom, it’s a beautiful recognition for the brand and my team," said Jacquemus. "As an independent designer, I was always keen on being innovative and creative in the design of my collections and also in my communication. It’s always about communicating and creating experiences with our community in a unique way. I warmly thank the Couture Council of The Museum at FIT and Nordstrom for this great support and this award."
"A bold creative force in the industry who started his brand at the age of 20, Simone Porte Jacquemus is also a role model for our students who look up to him as both an entrepreneur and a designer," said Dr. Joyce F. Brown, FIT president. "Following the Couture Council luncheon, we look forward to welcoming him to the FIT campus, where he can discuss his extraordinary career with our students."
"The Museum at FIT is delighted to honor Simon Porte Jacquemus, the visionary young designer whose fashions are as sunny and beautiful as his native region in the South of France," said Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator, The Museum at FIT. "His love of art and natural beauty come through in all his work."
"Nordstrom is proud to support the Couture Council Luncheon benefiting The Museum at FIT for the fifth consecutive year. It's always an honor to celebrate the fusion of innovation and artistry within the fashion industry at this esteemed event, which kicks off New York Fashion Week," says Gigi Ganatra Duff, vice president of PR and corporate affairs at Nordstrom, Inc. and member of the FIT Foundation Board of Trustees. "This year, we are particularly excited to recognize the visionary talent of designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, whose work embodies the bold spirit and creative excellence that The Museum at FIT and the Couture Council so passionately champion."
Past recipients of the Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion are Gabriela Hearst (2023), Maria Grazia Chiuri of DIOR (2022), Wes Gordon of Carolina Herrera (2021), Christian Louboutin (2019), Narciso Rodriguez (2018), Thom Browne (2017), Albert Kriemler of AKRIS (2016), Manolo Blahnik (2015), Carolina Herrera (2014), FIT alumnus Michael Kors (2013), Oscar de la Renta (2012), Valentino (2011), Karl Lagerfeld of CHANEL (2010), Dries Van Noten (2009), Isabel Toledo (2008), Alber Elbaz of LANVIN (2007), and FIT alumnus Ralph Rucci (2006). In 2008, Giorgio Armani received a special award for Global Fashion Leadership.
ABOUT JACQUEMUS:
JACQUEMUS was founded by Simon Porte Jacquemus in 2009 in Paris, France. Dedicated to the memory of the designer's late mother, a passion for culture inspires the JACQUEMUS ready-to-wear and accessories collections for men and women that reference a French way of life and universal gestures of beauty: from fine art photography to the decorative arts, cinema, painting and sculpture. Throughout the years, JACQUEMUS has staged runway productions in such unexpected locations as a Parisian swimming pool or inside the Musée Picasso, winding through a lavender field in Provence or a wheat field outside of Paris, a salt marsh in the Camargue, a beach in Hawaii, and at the Château de Versailles. Today, based in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, JACQUEMUS is an independent fashion house with over 300 employees. Well known for its fast growing digital presence and its worldwide business spread, JACQUEMUS has hosted novel retail experiences around the world, before opening the first permanent flagship store of the brand at 58, Avenue Montaigne in Paris in 2022.
ABOUT NORDSTROM:
Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) exists to help customers feel good and look their best. Since starting as a shoe store in 1901, Nordstrom has placed how to best serve customers at the center of every decision they make. This heritage of service is the foundation they're building on as they provide convenience and true connection for their customers. Their digital-first platform enables them to serve customers when, where, and how they want to shop—whether that's in store at more than 350 Nordstrom, Nordstrom Local, and Nordstrom Rack locations or digitally through their Nordstrom and Rack apps and websites. Through it all, they remain committed to leaving the world better than they found it.
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