Each fall, Harlem’s Fashion Row gathers the people moving fashion forward and gives them something to hold. I make those objects.

The HFR Style Awards go to people who have shaped their fields. My job is to design a personal piece of sculpture for each honoree, one that carries the weight of what they have done. I think of them as modern artifacts. The forms are contemporary, with the geometry and proportion of Art Deco, and a deeper memory of classical Egyptian and Sumerian design. Objects meant to outlast the night they were handed out.

The 18th Annual Fashion Show and Style Awards took place on September 9, 2025, at Cipriani Wall Street. The theme was This Is the Table. Usher received the Virgil Abloh Award, presented by LVMH, for cultural influence and community work. Ruth E. Carter, the Oscar-winning costume designer behind Black Panther and Wakanda Forever, was the inaugural recipient of the new Anne Lowe Maverick Award, named for the Black designer of Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress. Christiane Pendarvis, co-CEO of Pattern Beauty, took the new Impact Award. Nikki Ogunnaike, editor-in-chief of Marie Claire, was named Editor of the Year. Stylist Jason Bolden, who dresses Michael B. Jordan and Alicia Keys, was named Stylist of the Year.

The year before, the 17th Annual show carried the theme Night of the Legends. It was held at the General Grant National Memorial on September 3, 2024. Naomi Campbell was honored as Icon of the Year. Teyana Taylor received the Virgil Abloh Award. Samira Nasr, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, was named Editor of the Year. Shiona Turini took Stylist of the Year.

Designing for HFR is a privilege. The honorees are people who built careers in rooms that were not always built for them. The objects need to meet that.