And The CFDA Nominees Are .... Boring.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America announced this year's nominees for the CFDA awards. Marc Jacobs, Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein, and Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough of Proenza Schouler have been nominated for the women's wear award. All worthy candidates, but its not a race that is going to get my heart racing. It seems to me that Proenza Schouler are the only ones who deserve the nomination, much less the award. Marc Jacobs had a great year in headlines, thanks to his efforts to reform his tardy ways but I don't think his collections were his best. And its hard for a label as concise and minimal as Calvin Klein to make fashion hearts beat. Far more interesting are the men's wear designers -- Michael Bastian from Bill Blass, Tom Ford, and Thom Browne. Bastian has had to create Bill Blass men's wear more or less from scratch and yet managed to find a look both chic and appealing to American men. The Thom Browne look -- shrunken suits that show the ankles -- is setting fashion trends (Marc Jacobs showed the look on his Marc by Marc Jacobs label) but unlikely to appeal to the majority of even the most fashion-conscious men. What Tom Ford is doing may not be setting a fashion agenda, but he continues to be one of the best at building a brand and everything that entails from shop design to advertising. This year the men's race is the one to watch both as an indicator of what the CFDA values more -- design merit or the all-American tradition of brand building. □