Erykah Badu was bestowed the fashion icon award by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, playfully saying it was an honor she’d been hoping to get most of her life.
Wearing a headdress of jewels and a Thom Browne jacket, Badu accepted the award recently in Manhattan, saying she’s been trying to win the icon award since she was 6 years old. Badu described dressing up as a sport, therapy — and, she joked, her husband.
André 3000 brought out an orange caution cone to the stage as he introduced Badu, who is the mother of his son.
“The world is a private joke between me and my things,” she said. André 3000 took the cone as he walked off with Badu.
The Grammy Award winner has become one of the great fashion disruptors of red carpets over the years, shaking up black-tie conformity with her own Afrocentric style of tall hats and headwraps, oversized jewelry and talismans, and layers of patchwork fabric adorned with accents that move and make music.
The CFDA Fashion Awards were staged at the American Museum of Natural History in a ceremony that attracted celebrities like Katie Holmes and Kylie Jenner, designers and fashion industry giants to honor the best in design. Cynthia Erivo, star of the movie “Wicked,” hosted the evening in a hooded gown from Gap designed by Zac Posen.
The final award of the night went to Rachel Scott of Diotima for womenswear designer of the year. Scott was overwhelmed with emotion while accepting her award and thanked her mother and the women who crochet her designs in Jamaica, where she is from.
“I’ve spent so much of my career on design teams, so I’m really unaccustomed to this recognition,” she said.
Scott, known for her exquisite knit designs, received the emerging designer of the year award in 2023.
Pop star Troye Sivan presented the menswear designer of the year award to Willy Chavarria, making this his second menswear win. This year, Chavarria was up against Mike Amiri of Amiri, Emily Adams Bode Aujla of Bode, Todd Snyder and Browne for the award.
Actor Molly Gordon and designer Brandon Maxwell presented the emerging designer of the year award to Russian-born designer Henry Zankov, known for his colorful knitwear. (Maxwell is a previous emerging designer winner.) Other contenders for the honor were Presley Oldham of Presley Oldham, Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell of Tanner Fletcher, Jackson Wiederhoeft of Wiederhoeft and Connor McKnight.
Celebrity duo Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie teamed up to present the award for accessory designer of the year to Raul Lopez of Luar. Lopez said the win is for everyone like him, who grew up the child of immigrants.
“I’m just a vessel in this industry to guide the kids that come after me to see they can do it to,” he said.
Lopez beat out nominees Ana Khouri, Stuart Vevers for Coach, Catherine Holstein for Khaite and Tory Burch.
Another icon shaking up the fashion industry, Daniel Roseberry of Schiaparelli, was honored as the international designer of the year. Roseberry’s designs have been dominating red carpets with Schiaparelli’s unconventional couture and surrealist pop of gold embellishments.
Roseberry is the first American to lead a French couture company.
Other honors of the night included the Amazon Innovation Award, which was given to Vevers; famed photographer Annie Leibovitz received the media award; and the positive change award went to Michael Kors. Designer Stephen Burrows was honored at the event with the lifetime achievement award. Burrows was one of the five U.S. designers who competed in the 1973 “Battle of Versailles” fashion show.