CFDA Awards 2012: Best Dressed

Posted by Styloko

Ok, we’re just gonna come out and say it. We still can’t quite believe the Olsen twins beat fashion heavyweights Marc Jacobs and Proenza Schouler to take home the big prize at this year’s CFDA Awards 2012: Womenswear Designer of the Year. There’s no denying we’re fans of Mary-Kate and Ashley’s label The Row – the tailoring! – but we have to be frank about the fact that it’s not quite top-of-the-industry-winning material.

Still, there’s far more to be discussing than our opinions on one win this morning – we’re also celebrating, namely Reed Krakoff’s success in the accessory category as well as Billy Reid’s, winner of Menswear Designer of the Year award. And we couldn’t be happier that Joseph Altuzarra and Phillip Lim swooped up the Swarovski Awards for Emerging Womenswear and Menswear Designers of the Year respectively.

Anyhow, you know as well as we do that even more important than the accolades are the outfits the attendees wore on the night. So, while Tommy Hilfiger polishes off his trophy for the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award (presented to him by Anna Wintour), we’ve put together a round-up of our favourites from this year’s ‘Oscars of Fashion’.

Doutzen Kroes in Sophie Theallet, Zoe Saldana in Prabal Gurung and Shala Monroque in Jason Wu

Joan Smalls in Michael Kors, Harley Viera-Newton in Jen Kao and Jessica Chastain in Prabal Gurung

Rarely can we resist a little bit of poking fun at the stars’ red-carpet fashion failure, but today we didn’t even have to try. In keeping with the CFDA’s reputation, there wasn’t a faux-pas in sight at Monday’s awards – just lots of black and white. But what do you expect at a fashion event, eh? Prabal Gurung’s date, actress Zoe Saldana, who wore the designer’s  long black creation, and Joan Smalls, who wore a white Michael Kors dress, were just some of our fave monochromers. 

Candice Swanepoel in Valentino, Hilary Rhoda in Rebecca Minkoff and Jessica Stam in Jason Wu

Blue was another hit hue at the CFDA Awards. And while we’re lusting after the Valentino lace number worn by Victoria’s Secret model Candice Swanepoel, we fell in love with Jessica Stam all over again in her glamorous yet demure Jason Wu gown.

Dakota Fanning in Proenza Schouler, Kate Bosworth in Altuzarra and Karolina Kurkova in Tommy Hilfiger

With Kate Bosworth and Dakota Fanning leading the patterned pack, we take our hats off to those who played with print.

Diane Von Furstenberg in her own design, Anna Wintour in Marc Jacobs and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen in The Row

But what were the real fashion figures wearing? We couldn’t do a round-up of  this year’s CFDAs without mentioning the industry’s power players. In fact, Anna Wintour’s Marc Jacobs dress and Rebecca Minkoff’s own design are among our Monday night favourites. We were also particularly pleased to see Marc Jacobs looking dapper in a suit (at last, he’s run out of skirts) and sighed a big breath of relief when Carine Roitfeld returned from her trip down dodgy dress lane in a fierce Alexander Wang dress. Phew!