Prizegiving

In September 2011, the Fashion Institute of Technology awards a prize to the designer to celebrate his career.

The Couture Council of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) will honor Valentino with the 2011 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion.

Valentino will receive his prize on Wednesday September 7, 2011, at the occasion of a benefit luncheon at the David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center, New York City. This luncheon is sponsored by 1stdibs, which also supports the Museum at FIT and is activities.

The Couture Council Advisory Committee, who chose this year to award Valentino, is an independent group of curators, editors, and retailers. Members chaired by Dr. Valerie Steele (Director of the Museum at FIT) include Pamela Golbin, curator of the Musée de la Mode; Akiko Fukai, director and chief curator of the Kyoto Costume Institute; Caroline Milbank, independent curator and author; Glenda Bailey, editor-in-chief of Harpers Bazaar; Hamish Bowles, European editor-at-large of Vogue; Ken Downing, fashion director of Neiman Marcus;Linda Fargo, senior vice president of Bergdorf Goodman; Nicole Fishcelis, vice president and fashion director at Macy’s.

Why Valentino? According to Valerie Steele, “Valentino was chosen in recognition of his status as a world-historical figure in modern fashion, a man who has dressed every beautiful woman of the past 50 years, from Jacqueline Kennedy to Madonna. Valentino’s concept of beauty is Apollonian in its classicism and perfect taste. Yet red, the color of love and passion, runs like a leitmotif through his career, asserting his passionate love of beauty. In today’s world of an often debased celebrity culture, Valentino’s dresses continue to assert an aristocratic ideal of art and beauty.”

The following will be present at the luncheon for the Valentino Award : Anne H. Bass, Charlotte Moss, Diane von Furstenberg and Daphne Guinness.

Past recipients of The Couture Council Awards include Karl Lagerfeld in 2010, Dries Van Noten in 2009, Isabel Toledo in 2008, Alber Elbaz in 2007, and Ralph Rucci in 2006.

Contact The Museum at FIT
Seventh Avenue at 27th Street
New York, New York 10001-5992
24-Hour Exhibition Information Line is + 1 212 217.4558.
Email: museuminfo@fitnyc.edu

Contact Couture Council
Phone: + 1 212 217.4532
Email: couturecouncil@fitnyc.edu

Héloïse Keller © Modemonline.com