Alexander Wang, the media’s fashion flavor du jour, has had a banner year. His frocks have become staples for celebrities such as Reese Witherspoon, Hilary Swank, and Lindsay Lohan. In January, he won the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award, a $25,000 prize that helped finance his fall runway show in New York, which was styled by model Erin Wasson. His capsule collection for the Japanese cheap-and-chic chain Uniqlo goes on sale today.

But it’s the call he received in March that will likely impact his business the most. One Monday afternoon, Steven Kolb, executive director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America rang to let Wang know he’d been nominated for a Swarovski Award for Womenswear for emerging talent.

“I was like, ‘Whoa,’” Wang says. “I was so shocked. We’ve only been doing a full collection for about a year.” Still, the collection is sold in 175 stores, and for fall, Wang’s orders are up 30 to 40 percent from the last season.

The average consumer may never have heard of the Swarovski Award, or the C.F.D.A. for that matter, but the nominations for these awards, voted on by designers, retailers, and editors shape what appears on the racks and red carpets. They are the Oscars of the fashion industry. Just as an Academy Award nomination can mean better box office, juicier roles, and bigger paychecks for actors, C.F.D.A. nominations drive industry investments and attention and help determine what appears in fashion magazines—and, ultimately, what shows up in stores.

“In terms of visibility, it helps you tremendously,” says Kate Mulleavy, who, with her sister Laura, designs Rodarte, an ethereal collection of dresses and separates. The sisters are three-time nominees for the Swarovski Award for Womenswear. “It gives you a platform, which is important and vital, especially if you are a younger designer.”

Once nominated, emerging designers instantly get attention from the press, current buyers, and retail buyers they don’t yet work with. In addition, a nomination indicates that a brand is here to stay.

“We’re being approached by investors,” says Courtney Crangi, president and partner of jewelry designer Philip Crangi, nominated this year for the Swarovski Award for Accessories. “Serious people are looking at us. People are seeing we’re not just a flash in the pan.”

The annual awards are based primarily on the fall collections for that year and next on the spring collections. Winning emerging designers in womenswear, menswear, and accessory design are given $10,000 in addition to the Trova, an award statuette (which looks suspiciously like Karl Lagerfeld before his 91-pound weight loss). This year’s winners will be named on June 2 at the New York Public Library.
 

Target is one of the major retailers that appear to use the C.F.D.A. Awards as a pipeline for its GO International series of limited-edition designer offerings. Former Swarovski Award winners Proenza Schouler has done it, as have the past two Swarovski Award winners for accessory design: Devi Kroell and Jessie Randall for Loeffler Randall. This spring saw the debut of capsule collections from two of the three Swarovski nominees for accessories: Subversive by Justin Giunta and Gryson by Joy Gryson handbags.

Executives from Target declined to comment, but Giunta, a two-time nominee for the Swarovski Award, admits that his deal with Target was probably a result of the increased attention his collection received after the nomination last year.

“Brand recognition is one of the most important things in America,” he says. “And, yes, I think it definitely translated [through my Target deal].”

For a growing fashion label, the exposure a partnership with a national retailer like Target can bring is priceless, particularly when it is supported with national print and television advertisements.

Nominees for the C.F.D.A. Awards are submitted by current designer members of the C.F.D.A. along with a select group of retailers, editors, and stylists. Once a designer wins a Swarovski Award, they can no longer be considered in that category; they are only eligible for Designer of the Year honors in their category.
 
One design duo that recently “graduated” from the Swarovski Award category to Designer of the Year is Proenza Schouler. Designers Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough won the award for emerging talent in 2003 and then went on to share Womenswear Designer of the Year honors with Oscar de la Renta in 2007.

Shirley Cook, president of Proenza Schouler, says they saw positive results from the time of their first nomination. “It puts you on everybody’s radar,” she says. “It definitely raised people’s awareness of us, so it helped our sales and getting retailers in the door.”

The continued attention these fashion “it” boys received also helped attract a big suitor. Last July, Proenza Schouler received a reported $3.7 million investment from the Valentino Fashion Group. Though their nomination was announced after their negotiations with Valentino had started, it definitely helped speed the deal along.

“It made everyone so much more confident in their decision that this was the right thing. At the negotiating table, no matter what, when you’re an award winner or an award nominee, it raises your profile, and in this case, raised our value,” Cook explains. “I think it made the Valentino Fashion Group feel good about their decision and reinforced to them that it was the right decision.”