The best looks at the 2024 CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) Awards aren't just about the celebrities wearing them. On this red carpet, held Oct. 28 at New York City's Natural History Museum, fashion is a vehicle to celebrate the talent behind each stitch and seam.
The CFDA Awards annually highlight the best and brightest in American design, meaning the carpet is usually full of nominees' work. This year, we were guaranteed a big showing from recognizable names like Tory Burch (nominated for the top womenswear award) and Coach (nominated for accessories honors), as well as emerging labels Wiederhoeft, Tanner Fletcher, and Zankov. Nominees like Rachel Scott of Diotima created custom pieces for their guests to debut on the carpet; other designers, like Carolina Herrera and Michael Kors, lent straight-off-the runway pieces to the likes of Katie Holmes and Blake Lively.
While the recent Academy Museum Gala prioritized flexing in rare vintage, and the Met Gala invited celebrities to go all-out with custom couture, the CFDAs landed at a wearable, but no less notable, in-between. The best looks this year explored a nuanced vision of American glamour: one that could manifest in a velvet hooded dress one minute, as it did for host Cynthia Erivo, and transform into a feathered gown for Kylie Jenner the next. From tuxedos to cut-out dresses to shimmering sheaths, it was clear that American fashion still can't be defined in a single aesthetic, but it can deftly toe the line between aspirational and accessible. The result? A best-dressed list filled with pieces that almost anyone can image themselves wearing—if they're invited to next year's gala, anyway.
Paloma Elsesser in Diotima
There's no better red carpet synergy than one of New York City's most beloved models dressing in one of New York City's brightest rising talents. Paloma Elsesser showed off the signatures earning Rachel Scott her Womenswear Designer of the Year nomination in a studded dress from Diotima's Spring 2025 collection. The gown's plunging neckline and hand-woven fringe skirt combined textures and themes that could seem competitive in another designer's hands (feminine and masculine, romantic and edgy). But in this dress, with the addition of a sweeping chiffon train, it's all in perfect balance.
Cynthia Erivo (and Zac Posen) in Custom Zac Posen
Zac Posen has been re-introduced to the fashion world this year as the creative director of Gap Inc., heading up buzzy Cult Gaia and Dôen collaborations and occasionally creating one-off gala looks for Anne Hathaway and Da'Vine Joy Randolph. For the CFDA Awards, he worked red carpet wonders again in a dress designed for host Cynthia Erivo.
The actor made an allusion to her role in Wicked with a black, hooded gown, featuring a slim-fitting bodice and a dramatic trumpet skirt. Styled by Jason Bolden with a jade choker necklace and colorful custom nail art, Erivo looked ready to cast a spell over the carpet. Of course, the real magic here is Posen's mastery of tailoring and shape.
Erykah Badu
Every year, the CFDA Awards bestows a Fashion Icon Award to a guest who's made an indelible impact on American style. Past recipients have ranged from Zendaya to Rihanna to Serena Williams, and each one showed out on the carpet for their award year.
2024's ceremony honored singer-songwriter Erykah Badu. "I’ve always had a love for taking bits and pieces of the things I am attracted to and creating something far more grand than the sum of those parts," she said in a statement regarding the honor. "From the music I make, to the looks I put on, to the technology I’m developing; I’m always looking for more innovative, exciting ways to be more expressive and connect with people—to be closer to nature." The style she's developed on that journey is defined by exaggerated proportions, eclectic fabrics, and intricate headpieces with a mystical bent. She combined all her signatures in her custom Thom Browne look for the evening: an extra-oversize black tuxedo gown over a suit, finished with a multicolor, sculptural face-covering.
Kylie Jenner in Jean Paul Gaultier
Days after she hit the Academy Museum Gala in vintage Mugler, Kylie Jenner showed that she and her stylists, Alexandra and Mackenzie Grandquist, are still looking to the (recent) past to own red carpets of the present. She positively looked ready to take flight in a feather-coated dress from Haider Ackermann's 2023 collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier. Jenner, as fans know, normally hits the step-and-repeat in some variation of a naked dress. Seeing her covered up in raven plumage with a sharp cropped haircut to match felt absolutely refreshing.
Other editors might dock a few points for Jenner wearing a collab between two French designers to an American fashion awards show. Counterpoint: Isn't the most American approach to style dressing to the beat of your own drum?
Molly Gordon in Proenza Schouler
Sorry, but it has to be said: The Bear star Molly Gordon cooked with her CFDA Awards look. It all comes down to the tied waist—a clever effect that looks like Gordon layered two pieces at once—and the asymmetric straps, one in the form of a belt buckle and the other in a cap sleeve. Pairing the so-blue-it's-nearly-purple dress with sandals in the same jewel tone were enough to earn a "Yes, chef!" from me.
Jenna Lyons in Thom Browne
Jenna Lyons is a real fashion girl first, Real Housewife of New York City second. She showed up to host the CFDA Awards red carpet in a tuxedo by Thom Browne, one of the evening's nominees for Womenswear Designer of the Year. With a bright red lip and metallic, lace-up booties, Lyons looked every bit the part of a red carpet host—one who can guess the designer who dressed you before she even asks, "So who are you wearing?"
Hari Nef in Proenza Schouler
My minimalist heart lit up seeing Hari Nef in this waterfall of black leather. The texture and movement of her Proenza Schouler original elevated the idea of a strapless LBD by several degrees. It didn't need over-the-top jewelry or exaggerated jewelry to stand out, just the gentle swaying of the extra-long fringe as Nef walked down the carpet.
Katie Holmes in Carolina Herrera
Everyone anticipates something elegant from a Katie Holmes red carpet appearance, but this Carolina Herrera gown surpassed all my expectations. From the tiny waist cut-outs to the open back and bow detail, every element of this look is a step outside of Katie Holmes's neutral-toned, denim-coated comfort zone. My thanks to creative director Wes Gordon for taking her from her downtown style to this Upper East Side-coded gown.
Addison Rae in Thom Browne
Addison Rae brought promo for her new single "Aquamarine" to the 2024 CFDA Awards—but through the lens of Thom Browne, it works. She reinterpreted the mermaid gown as a gray corset and a sequin skirt that transitions from gray and oyster plaid to a soft blue with crystal embellishments. Then there was the pièce de résistance: a giant conch shell Rae carried in lieu of a purse. Even the pop girls are method-dressing now.
Blake Lively in Michael Kors
Blake Lively put down her It Ends With Us bouquet and picked up a stark white suit dress and blazer, plus a pair of crystal-coated naked shoes. For Lively, it's a relatively minimal look—but one that still felt very "Blake" with heaps of diamond jewelry and bouncy Old Hollywood curls. She hasn't attended the 2024 CFDA Awards in an entire decade, and her boss-lady return was a welcome one.
