Were you not included on this year's list of nominees for the CFDA Awards that came out this morning? Same. What a fucking bummer. Well, get prepared to feel even worse because we forgot to mention that Instagram—yes, just, like, Instagram—is actually receiving a serious award for its work in the fashion industry. The Media Award in Honor of Eugenia Sheppard will go to Instagram, an app and a company and not, in fact, an actual person. For some background, Eugenia Sheppard was a really important journalist in the '50s and '60s that helped push fashion coverage to the next level. Andy Warhol remarked upon Sheppard's death that "she invented fashion and gossip together."
The award in her honor has been around since 1987 and gone to big names like Bill Cunningham, Bruce Weber, Tim Blanks and Andre Leon Talley. So you can imagine that I think it's a bit stupid that a tech company centered on sharing square photos is winning the award rather than someone else who has a bit more stature or significance. I mean, I fucking love Instagram, but this just feels more like a weak attempt at showing off just how "tech savvy" the CFDA thinks it is. This is some next level pandering for sure. Though, in the CFDA's defense, they did hand out a Most Stylish Dot.Com Award as far back as 2000, so maybe they aren't a bunch of olds?
Anyway, this is really just a super convenient means to bring up the CFDA's infamous inaugural Instagrammer of The Year award from 2014. I cannot wait to share the 2015 nominees as soon as they're released because you already know it's gonna be a laugh riot.
