NEW YORK (AP) – Expect chic men’s shorts and maybe even a tall hat: Pharrell is being honored by the fashion industry.
The producer-singer-songwriter is this year’s Fashion Icon at the annual Council of Fashion Designers of America awards, a glittery evening that brings a host of top fashion designers to New York’s Lincoln Center along with celebrities like Kim Kardashian, who was scheduled to present one of Monday evening’s awards. Another high-profile scheduled presenter: Chelsea Clinton.
Though a big celebrity name always receives the style icon award – last year it was Rihanna, resplendent in a crystal-embedded gown that left little to the imagination – the main focus is on fashion designers. This year, industry veteran Betsey Johnson gets a lifetime achievement award marking an amazing half-century in the business. The 72-year-old Johnson, with her distinctive platinum mop of hair, often does a cartwheel at her fashion shows, and her admirers were expecting nothing less at the awards ceremony.
Designers nominated for key awards Monday include Alexander Wang, Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, and Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, among many others. James Corden of CBS’ “The Late Late Show” is hosting.