The Council of Fashion Designers of America has announced the winners of the 1989 CFDA Awards, given annually to honor the creative contributions of designers and others to American fashion.
Topping the list is Oscar de la Renta, who captured the Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant contributions. During his career, de la Renta has initiated many international fashion trends, including his Russian and gypsy fashion themes, which swept the world during the 1970s.Also receiving awards were Isaac Mizrahi, Joseph Abboud, Paloma Picasso, Gordon Henderson, The Gap, Carrie Donovan, Diana Vreeland and Giorgio di Sant'Angelo.
Mizrahi was named Women's Wear Designer of the Year. A year ago, after only two collections, he garnered the CFDA Perry Ellis Award for new fashion talent. He is known for his vibrant and daring color combinations, simple shapes, quality fabrics and attention to detail.
Abboud, the Men's Wear Designer of the Year, has a design philosophy that has been consistent throughout his career - to create a complete collection for the man who believes in old-world quality and style, yet has a current perspective of today's needs.
Picasso was selected as Accessory Designer of the Year because of the way in which she reinterprets the classical in her own contemporary mode and, at the same time, proposes new directions for accessories.
Henderson won the Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent for the wearable fluidity in his sense of design as well as wry twist on valiant colors. His fashions gave the American woman an enviable balance for the new decade: brisk taste with ready comfort and affordability.
A special award was presented to The Gap, where a creative team of experts focused on merchandise assortment, presentation and advertising to increase the Gap's appeal. The main thrust of their campaign is best summed up with its own tag line: "Your look. Our classics," implying that contemporary style is an individual matter.
Donovan was delighted to win the Eugenia Sheppard Award for her outstanding contribution to American fashion journalism throughout the years.
A special tribute was paid Vreeland and di Sant'Angelo in memory of their contributions to the fashion world. Vreeland was fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar from 1937 to 1962 and editor of Vogue from 1962 to 1971.
Di Sant'Angelo's friend and associate, Martin Frederick Price, said, "Giorgio di Sant'Angelo was a true renaissance man with a noble heart, a romantic mind, a joyful soul and the natural gift of being born a genius. . . ."