CFDA Awards 2017: Raf Simons wins double fashion honours

Designer Raf Simons of Calvin Klein scored a rare double win at fashion’s glittery awards ceremony on Monday, winning both womenswear and menswear honours at the annual Council of Fashion Designers of America awards.

The ceremony, hosted by Seth Meyers, had an activist bent this year, reaching outside the industry to honour feminist icon Gloria Steinem, Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards, and actress Janelle Monae for their involvement in the Women’s March on Washington in January. The three were presented with the Board of Director’s Special Tribute by designer Diane von Furstenberg, who said they had “epitomised and crystallised” the march.

In her remarks, Steinem, a harsh critic of President Donald Trump, said the country is experiencing “a time of hope but also of danger.”

“There is backlash from Trump to terrorists against the kind of equality and understanding and simple humanity that we strive for,” Steinem said. “So like a woman leaving a violent household, who is then most likely to be injured or killed because she is escaping control, we too are escaping control. We have to be careful and look out for each other.”

“Now there is more activism than I have ever seen in my lifetime,” she added. “Maybe we are about to be free.”

“If we as creatives can be an inspiration for how the world should look,” Simons said in his speech Monday night, “I think that it’s something we should take as a very important task.” Actress Nicole Kidman presented him with the womenswear award.

Other celebrity presenters included actresses Kerry Washington and Mandy Moore, and singer Jon Bon Jovi.