Demna Gvasalia named 2021 women's designer by Council of Fashion Designers of America
The Georgian designer received the 2021 prize from American model Paloma Elsesser. Photo via Demna Gvasalia Daily on Facebook.
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Georgian-born designer Demna Gvasalia received the International Women's Designer of the Year award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in the association's 2021 Fashion Awards in New York City on Wednesday.
Emerging ahead of the likes of Daniel Lee, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, Gvasalia, representing Balenciaga, earned the prize in a ceremony held at the city's The Pool+The Grill venue, where the non-profit organisation established in the 1960s hosted the annual event.
The Georgian creative received the award from American model Paloma Elsesser, with the list of nominees for the prize also including Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino and Simon Porte Jacquemus for Jacquemus.
In his acceptance speech, Gvasalia said it was an "honour" to receive the honour 10 years after receiving his first design job in Paris, adding he felt like being "on a mission to challenge the rules and bring fashion forward."
The award has been bestowed on Gvasalia for the second time, with the designer also distinguished in 2017.
In the list of recent prizes awarded to the fashion professional, the CFDA award follows the Medal of Honour state prize of Georgia, handed to him by President Salome Zurabishvili in September.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has awarded Georgian fashion designer and creative director of the iconic fashion house Balenciaga Demna Gvasalia with the Medal of Honour for his contribution to the popularisation of Georgia abroad. Demna Gvasalia who is from Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region was awarded the medal today when Georgia marks 28 years of losing control over its territory and the fall of Sokhumi.
Georgian fashion designer and creative director of fashion house Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia, has starred in the most recent TV series of The Simpsons. The red carpet performance of the Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2022 collection was ‘the build-up’ to an actual premier of The Simpsons special episode at the Paris Fashion Week on October 2.
Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, Elliot Page and Tracee Ellis are among the celebrities who arrived at this year's Met Gala wearing Georgian Demna Gvasalia's Balenciaga Couture. Rihanna wore a Balenciaga overcoat and matching hat, while Kardashian walked the red carpet solo covering up her face in an all-black head-to-toe Balenciaga ensemble teamed with a ponytail and heels.
In a move dubbed a "new age in fashion diplomacy" by industry media, Balenciaga and their Georgian creative director Demna Gvasalia are teaming up with Gucci, another major name in the field, for a collection bearing signature sights of both fashion houses.
Georgia’s capital Tbilisi has been hosting Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week from May 4 to 8, for the first time after a three-year break caused by the pandemic, with Georgian and foreign designers showcasing their autumn-winter collections.