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MANOLO BLAHNIK TO BE HONORED WITH
2015 COUTURE COUNCIL AWARD
Award Luncheon to be Held on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at
the
David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center
Traditional First Event of Fall Fashion Week Will Benefit
The Museum at FIT
The Couture Council of The Museum at the Fashion Institute
of Technology will honor Manolo
Blahnik with
its 2015 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion on
Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at an award luncheon at the
David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City. As
has become tradition, this benefit luncheon heralds the
arrival of Fall Fashion Week in New York.
Manolo Blahnik was selected to receive the 2015 Couture
Council Award for Artistry of Fashion as a result of his
longstanding dedication to superior craftsmanship and
innovative design. For more than 40 years, he has been
meticulously designing his shoe line, which has attracted a
cult following including the likes of Nicole Kidman, Rihanna,
and Victoria Beckham.
"It is one of the greatest accolades of my life to be
awarded the 2015 Couture Council Award for Artistry of
Fashion," said Manolo
Blahnik. "I very much admire the Couture Council's
invaluable support of The Museum at FIT. It is imperative
that we cultivate the culture of fashion and continue
educating about design and artisanship. The museum does just
that and in very clever and innovative ways. After all it is
fashion that makes the world so much more colorful and
interesting, so we must nurture and celebrate talent. I am
very much looking forward to being there and to share my
excitement with everyone."
FIT president, Dr. Joyce
F. Brown, said,
"Manolo Blahnik is one of the world's most accomplished and
influential footwear designers. Superbly crafted in the
finest materials, his highly coveted shoes which have been
called magical totems of success and femininity reflect his
timeless and singular vision. We are delighted to be
honoring him."
"Manolo Blahnik is one of the world's greatest shoe
designers -- and a true artist of fashion," said Dr.
Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at FIT and chair
of the Couture Council Advisory Board. "I was absolutely
delighted when the Advisory Committee of the Couture Council
chose him to receive the Couture Council Artistry of Fashion
Award. It was Manolo who kicked off contemporary fashion's
obsession with shoes, as viewers of Sex
in the City will
recall. The awards luncheon on September 9th is sure to our
most photogenic event yet."
This year's luncheon co-chairs are Carole
Divet Harting and Darcy Rigas.
"We are thrilled to honor a designer who's taught us that a
great outfit isn't complete without beautiful shoes," said
Couture Council Chair Yaz Hernández. "Manolo Blahnik is an
icon and we look forward to celebrating his accomplishments
at this year's luncheon."
Each year the Artistry of Fashion award winner is chosen by
the Couture Council Advisory Board, which includes fashion
journalists, editors, retailers, and curators, including
Glenda Bailey, Hamish Bowles, Ken Downing, Linda Fargo,
Nicole Fischelis, Akiko Fukai, Pamela Golbin, and Suzy
Menkes. Dr. Steele explained, "The committee's mandate is to
look, not only at the previous year's accomplishments, but
at a lifetime of contributions to fashion."
ABOUT THE COUTURE COUNCIL
LUNCHEON:
The Couture Council luncheon will begin with cocktails on
the David H. Koch Theater terrace. Guests will then be
ushered into the theater's promenade for a three-course
luncheon, catered by Olivier Cheng. Bronson Van Wyck of Van
Wyck & Van Wyck will again design the flowers for this
year's luncheon.
Past recipients of the Couture Council Award include
Carolina Herrera (2014), Michael Kors (2013), Oscar de la
Renta (2012), Valentino (2011), Karl Lagerfeld (2010), Dries
Van Noten (2009), Isabel Toledo (2008), Alber Elbaz (2007),
and Ralph Rucci (2006). In 2008, Giorgio Armani received a
special award for Global Fashion Leadership.
Tickets for the Couture Council luncheon honoring Manolo
Blahnik are priced as follows:
Fashion Icon Table at $50,000
Top seating for table of ten
Haute Couture Table at $25,000
Premium seating for table of ten
Couture Table at $15,000
Superior seating for table of ten
Haute Couture Ticket at $2,500
Couture Ticket at $1,500
To purchase luncheon tickets, please contact Vicki
Guranowski at (212) 217-4105 or fax (212) 594-9206 or email
Victoria_Guranowski@fitnyc.edu
ABOUT THE COUTURE COUNCIL
OF THE MUSEUM AT FIT:
The Couture Council of The Museum at FIT, created in 2004,
is a membership group dedicated to supporting The Museum at
FIT, a specialized museum of fashion. The Couture Council
helps make it possible for the museum to mount world-class
exhibitions of fashion, to acquire important objects for its
permanent collection, and to organize public programs, such
as the annual fashion symposium. The Couture Council
accomplishes these goals through membership dues and by
organizing fundraising events such as the annual Couture
Council Awards Luncheon, which presents a chosen designer
with the Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion.
Members of the Couture Council receive invitations to at
least five special events a year, including
behind-the-scenes tours of the museum's collection and
exhibitions, opening receptions, and visits to the ateliers
of fashion designers in New York. Couture Council members
are also the first to receive notice of the annual Couture
Council Artistry of Fashion Award luncheon.
In addition, Couture Council members receive complimentary
admittance to all museum educational programs, as well as to
the annual fashion symposium, acknowledgments in FIT's
annual report, in the exhibition galleries and brochures,
and on the FIT website and exclusive opportunities to meet
other patrons of the fashion arts.
The Couture Council of The Museum at FIT's board of
directors includes Joele Frank, Anne Goldrach, Rebecca
Grastein, Audrey Gruss, Carole Divet Harting, Yaz Hernandez
(chair), Celia Hegyi, Chiu-Ti Jansen, Eleanora Kennedy, Lisa
Klein, Michele Gerber Klein, Kamie Lightburn (president),
Stephanie Loeffler, Julie Macklowe, Barbara Malone,
Elizabeth Musmanno, Amelia Ogunlesi, Liz Peek, Darcy Rigas,
Lois Robbins, Peter G. Scotese, Jean Shafiroff, and Michelle
Smith.
Couture Council annual membership is $1,000 per individual
or couple, or $350 for Young Associates (under the age of
35). Membership is tax deductible to the extent provided by
law. Please make checks payable to the FIT Foundation. Mail
checks to The Museum at FIT, attention: Couture Council, 227
West 27th Street, Director's Office, Room E304, New York, NY
10001-5992.
For more about the Couture Council visit
www.fitnyc.edu/couturecouncil
ABOUT THE MUSEUM AT FIT:
The Museum at FIT is the only museum in New York City
dedicated solely to the art of fashion. Best known for its
innovative and award-winning exhibitions, which have been
described in The New York Times as 'ravishing,' the museum
has a collection of more than 50,000 garments and
accessories dating from the 18th century to the present.
Like other fashion museums, such as the Muse de la Mode, the
Mode Museum, and the Museo de la Moda, The Museum at FIT
collects, conserves, documents, exhibits, and interprets
fashion. The museum's mission is to advance knowledge of
fashion through exhibitions, publications, and public
programs.
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS AT
THE MUSEUM AT FIT:
-
Global Fashion
Capitals, June 2 - November 14, 2015, will explore
the rise of fashion cities over the past 150 years
-
Fashion Underground:
The World of Susanne, September
18, 2015 ? January 2, 2016, will explore the creative
links between Bartsch?s 30 years of sartorial
self-expression and its influence on the global fashion
scene
-
Fairy Tale Fashion, February
12 - April 16, 2016, will use some of the most
extraordinary, beautiful, and luxurious examples of
fashion to illustrate more than twelve fairy tales,
including well-known tales such as ?Cinderella,?
?Sleeping Beauty,? and ?Little Red Riding Hood?
-
Proust?s Duchess,
September 2016 - January 3, 2017, an exhibition focusing
on the wardrobe of Élizabeth, Comtesse de Greffulhe,
whose beauty and elegance was one of the main
inspirations for Marcel Proust's fictional character,
the Duchesse de Guermantes from his novel À
la recherché du temps perdu (In
Search of Lost Time).
ABOUT FIT:
Fashion Institute of Technology, a college of the State
University of New York, has been a leader in career
education in art, design, business, and technology for
nearly 70 years. With a curriculum that provides a singular
blend of hands-on, practical experience, classroom study,
and a firm grounding in the liberal arts, FIT offers a wide
range of outstanding programs that are affordable and
relevant to today's rapidly changing industries.
Internationally renowned, FIT draws on its New York City
location to provide a vibrant, creative community in which
to learn. The college offers 46 majors and grants AAS, BFA,
BS, MA, MFA, and MPS degrees, preparing students for
professional success and leadership in the global
marketplace. Visit
www.fitnyc.edu
ABOUT MANOLO BLAHNIK:
With
a career spanning over 40 years, Manolo Blahnik has become
one of the world's most influential footwear designers. His
shoes have spellbound an international set of adoring and
loyal devotees across the globe. Born in the Canary Islands
to a Spanish mother and a Czech father, he studied languages
and art in Geneva before moving to Paris in 1965 where he
decided to become a set designer. On a visit to New York in
1970, he showed his theater designs to Diana Vreeland, then
editor-in-chief of American Vogue, who honed in on his shoes
and encouraged him to concentrate on them. Blahnik learned
the art of making shoes by visiting factories where he
talked to machine operators, pattern cutters, and
technicians. By 1971, he was in London making shoes. A year
later, Ossie Clark, then the most famous designer in London,
used his shoes and from there his career blossomed. In 1973
he opened his first shop in London's Chelsea. Blahnik is a
craftsman. The exquisitely shaped lasts and heels he creates
for his shoes are still perfected with his very own hands.
The lines and silhouette of his distinctive handwriting,
however, remain instantly recognizable as uniq'e, inimitable
exercises in precision and balance, exquisite workmanship
and luxury. 'Shoes,? he says, "help transform a woman." From
the flagship store in London, the label has expanded
worldwide. He has also received many international awards
throughout his career including an Honorary CBE in November
2007.
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