This past Monday evening brought the fashion elite to NYC for the annual Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards dinner and ceremony.
This chic crowd wowed with their outfits, and Lady Gaga won an award for “Top Style Icon” of the year.
The singer, performance artist, and pop culture icon is just as known for her outrageous, outlandish, and unbelievable ensembles as she is for her musical stylings.
Humbled by the award, Gaga accepted tearfully and gave a heartfelt speech on stage.
“All of you made me feel like a star before I was,” she told the audience at Lincoln Center — an audience which consisted of Marc Jacobs, Anna Wintour, Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, the Olsen twins, Anderson Cooper, Kanye West, and many, many more esteemed names and faces.
Lady Gaga spoke on the importance of art and fashion in her life. She compared fashion as a sort of pathway that led to self-discovery, artistry, and, most importantly, confidence. As a teen, she said, she would save money in order to buy vintage Thierry Mugler pieces from a neighborhood thrift shop, and she planned her outfits for Friday night parties, “as if she were going to the Oscars.”
“As much as this award means to me personally … I just want you to know how much this means to young Americans,” Gaga said, adorned in a corset get-up by Mugler. She got some laughs as she told a story about the moment she found out she won the Top Style Icon award. She got a text message from industry goddess Anna Wintour telling her that she was picked for the prize. Gaga thought the message was from a friend named Anna, and replied with a typical Gaga “bleep-worthy” response. The text back from the Vogue editor-in-chief said, “How lovely.”
Designer Michael Kors said that he always enjoys this event because he likes being surrounded with “people who have a passion for fashion,” as Lady Gaga truly does.
He summed it up simply: “Tonight is about not only people who make the clothes, but also the photographers, writers and the people who wear the clothes.”
After all, isn’t that what fashion is all about?
— by Ashley Marie Boynes
