He’s got sole. At the 38th annual FN Achievement Awards ceremony, to be held Dec. 4 in New York, veteran footwear designer Kenneth Cole will be recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor that has previously been bestowed on designers and executives including Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik, Sam and Libby Edelman, Bruce Nordstrom and Vince Camuto.

Cole and his namesake company have been an industry fixture for more than 40 years.

Throughout his career, Cole has used his platform to support a range of social justice movements, most recently focusing on ending mental health stigmas. In 2019, Cole helped to found The Mental Health Coalition, a large-scale effort aimed at bringing together influential nonprofits, businesses, brands, celebrities and influencers in a coordinated effort to destigmatize mental health conditions. The company has prioritized wellness outside its business with charitable collection drops, as well as internally through employee programs.

The designer has also been known for his eye-brow-raising ads that have tackled controversial topics such as gun reform, the Iraq war, AIDS epidemic, climate change and much more. “You can change your outfit, you can outfit change,” has been one of the brand’s go-to taglines, for instance.

“That’s the ultimate challenge,” Cole told FN in September 2023. “How do we do what we do in the ordinary course and connect it to something bigger? And that’s something I’ve tried to do for 40 years, and still try to do.”

It’s a big year for Cole. Earlier this month, his documentary, “A Man with Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole,” premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival. The doc explores his life, career and activism.

In 2019, Cole and Donna Karan were honored with the Icon Award for Social Impact winners at the FNAAs for their philanthropic work with Haiti. Through Karan’s Urban Zen retail concept and Cole’s Gentle Souls footwear label, the duo debuted a shoe collection featuring 10 Haitian-inspired looks made by a group of the country’s artisans.

Cole will join more soon-to-be announced winners at the 2024 FNAAs on Dec. 4 in New York.

For sponsorship and ticket information, contact Samantha Rumsky at srumsky@fairchildfashion.com.

There was simply no one like Iris Apfel.

The unmistakable style icon — who got her start as a “copy girl” at WWD and became a global fashion phenomenon in her 80s — died on Friday at her home in Palm Beach, Fla. She was 102.

While age was certainly a factor in the admiration for Apfel, it was her gumption, tenacity and, of course, cool sense of style that kept the world hanging on her every word.

“I am not the usual fashionista. I don’t follow trends. I’m not one of the mob. I do my own thing. And I like to get that point across,” Apfel said in a 2022 FN cover story in which she was photographed wearing a bright blue Tom Ford feather coat and a choker necklace with matching cuff bracelets. “I never felt I had to conform. I didn’t have to conform. I wanted to do everything but. So why should I? I wouldn’t be having anything new to say.”

Iris Barrel Apfel was undeniably ubiquitous. always living by her mantra: “More is more, less is a bore.”

Apfel founded her textile firm Old World Weavers with her husband Carl Apfel, working with the White House to oversee various restoration projects for nine presidencies — and later for signing as a model with IMG at 97.

From 6-year-olds to grandparents, Apfel’s fan base was wide-ranging. Jennifer Ash Rudick, one of the producers of the documentary “Iris,” noted things started to snowball for the self-proclaimed “geriatric starlet” in 2005 after the Metropolitan Museum of Art featured an exhibition on her extensive fashion archives. Interest sparked again when the documentary came out in 2014. 

“People are now wearing big glasses again [because of her],” said Rudick, when Apfel received FN’s Icon Award at the 2016 FNAAs.

Apfel’s fans were both inspired to copy her signature look (spectacles, an armful of colorful bracelets, a pile of bold necklaces, topped off with a brightly colored faux fur) and emboldened to express their identity through fashion. 

But beyond her unique fashion sensibility, it was her unwavering work ethic that set her apart. “You’ve got to work. Everybody’s got to work and produce something,” Apfel told FN in 2022.

While she could count countless achievements throughout her illustrious career, the one role that she was most passionate about? Her job as professor at The University of Texas at Austin.

One day before her most recent FN photo shoot in 2022, her class of 16 students arrived wide-eyed for their own moment in front of the camera with FN. From afar, Apfel called in to check on “her little chickens,” as she adoringly called them, as they embarked on the 10th UT in NYC experience. Their faces immediately lit up with excitement when she called — and with good reason.

Apfel was more than a guest speaker in the program. She curated an annual New York trip for the students, giving them face time with major fashion executives and designers — all curated by Apfel.

She admitted the curriculum came together haphazardly. “I really didn’t know what the devil I was doing [when we started]. I just plunged in,” she recalled. “That’s how I do everything. I thought, ‘If I’m starting, I might as well start at the top.’ So I called everybody that I knew was doing something interesting and upbeat in the field and it took off like wildfire.”

One of her enduring lessons passed on to her students? Her sage advice about style. “Style is attitude, attitude, attitude,” said Apfel. “Style, from my point of view, cannot be learned. It has to be cultivated, but it has to be in your DNA.”

—With contributions by Nikara Johns and Eugenia Richman

Iris Apfel Through the Years: Remembering the Late Style Icon in Photos

View Gallery 34 Images

Howard “H” White is arguably the most prolific storyteller in sneakers.

The industry icon, whose career at Nike Inc. spans 45 years and is still going strong, was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 37th annual FN Achievement Awards on Nov. 29. Currently, White — the longest-tenured Black executive at Nike — serves as the vice president of Jordan Brand Affairs, although he is referred to internally as “resident legend.”

Although replete with accomplishments, the most notable highlight of White’s career was helping to convince a young Michael Jordan to sign with Nike in 1984. The story was the subject of this year’s hit film “Air,” in which White was portrayed by Chris Tucker. What’s more, White was instrumental in selling Nike co-founder Phil Knight on the idea of Jordan Brand as its own standalone label.

Ahead of the awards event, White spoke with FN via Zoom from his office in the Michael Jordan Building on Nike’s sprawling campus in Beaverton, Ore., sharing stories of his astounding career.

Below are outtakes from those conversations with White, which have been edited for clarity.

Pitching Michael Jordan’s Family on Signing With Nike

“What I remember most is what went into that to make this moment possible. What I like more than anything is they were open to the moment happening. Everyone knows that this was the last place that Michael wanted to be. He was pretty much an Adidas guy. He had worn Converse at the University of North Carolina and he did not like Nike. Everybody knows that. I knew why he was there, that was because of mama. That took me back to a lot of the reasons that I would do the things that I did, because when mama spoke, then [it was] OK, cool, I don’t want to do it but we’re going to do this. The openness they had to a new reality, a new way of thinking, often when people walk in meetings and they don’t want to be there, the meeting is already over before they ever get there. That wasn’t that meeting. That is what I remember most about that particular day, the openness to allow a different opinion to come into your life.”

Seeing the Movie “Air” for the First Time

“My daughter saw it before I did. It ain’t like they asked you what they should put in a film. And Tuck [Chris Tucker] is a comedian, so I had no idea how that thing might be played out and what they may be saying. Obviously, there was some excitement, and I thought that I may have been in a scene, but Mandy, my daughter, went to Ben [Affleck’s] house with Chris the first time they all saw it. I said, ‘How was it? A little scene or so?’ And she said, ‘No daddy, you’re in the movie quite a bit.’ I said, ‘Really?’ Ben had sent it to me and we watched it quite a bit. That was pretty awing to me, like, ‘Wow, here you are in this film.’ I remember the first time watching it with Ben. He came out to show it to Mr. [Phil] Knight and his family, and [then-CEO] Mark Parker and a lot of the Nike execs. I remember asking Mr. Knight, I gave him a night or two to sleep on it, and I said, ‘What did you think about that?’ He said, ‘Pleasantly surprised. Ben told me it wasn’t a documentary, so they would take a lot of liberties, in which he did, but I think he captured the spirit of Nike better than I have ever seen it captured.’ From my perspective, after seeing it, because everybody was like, ‘Was this right? Did this happen? I know that didn’t happen.’ The message, I thought, was about team camaraderie, about the magic that can happen when people work together, and I thought that replicated the magic of what this place, Nike and Jordan, has become.”

The Origins of His “H” Moniker

“That first day my dad had left us, we ended up moving into the woods with my mother’s sister. On the right hand side of the woods, it was all white. They said there was a sign down that said, ‘If you’re here when the sun go down, you won’t see it come up.’ You just didn’t go down there. One day some guys came by, they were older than me. I was in eighth grade at the time. They said, ‘Howard, they let you play basketball down at that new school,’ which happened to be on the right-hand side of the woods. I asked mom and she said ‘OK, you can go, but y’all get back here before it’s dark.’ There were three white men shooting. They said, ‘You kids want to play a game?’ They beat us to death. When I walked off, I stopped to get a drink of water — when you could actually drink out of a water fountain — and this man walked up, he introduced himself. He said, ‘How you doing, son? My name is Jim Hathaway, I’m the coach at Kecoughtan High.’ That man said, ‘Do you know who Oscar Robertson is?’ I said, ‘Of course I do.’ He said, ‘If you listen to me, you could be just like The Big O.’ Of course, the man was lying, but who knows what could happen. I went home, I cut some trees down, I dug some holes, got some plywood, cashed some soda bottles found on the side of the road and bought me a basketball and a hoop. I shot a lot of baskets. Changed schools that ninth grade year, went to a school called Benjamin Syms. For the first time in my life, I get to play basketball on a team. I wasn’t no good, but they weren’t no good either, so I got to play. I went to that school, and that school today has the Howard White Gym and it’s on Howard White Way. When I got to college, I went to them and said, ‘The only thing I want on the back of my uniform is an H.’ They said, ‘That’s pretty cool,’ so they had H in quotations on the back of my uniform. From that day, I became H. What you believe inside of you, what you work toward, often comes true. Did I ever become Big O? I became whoever I became, but I have worked with who they call the greatest player in the history of basketball.”

What’s Left to Accomplish at Nike

“What do I want to do next? That is a question a lot of younger people [ask]. ‘What’s next, H? What do you want to do next, H?’ I could not have told you what I wanted to do next 42 years ago. I could not have told you what I wanted to do next when I played ball. In today’s world, where people want to plot their course out, they want to plot out every new step, every new position. I’m not that person. I simply exist because those winds that planted that seed someplace else, that belief, it doesn’t come with a plan. It comes with what are you here for, and I will put you in the place where that can manifest. My world has never been what’s next. It has only been I’m supposed to play my role, I’m supposed to be who I am, and in that, I often end up where next is. … Every day that I’m here, I will try and live up to that little boy that Lillian [White’s mother] said, ‘Let that be the last time you ever walk by someone and not open your mouth to speak because even a dog can wag his tail when it passes you on the street.’ Maybe the hope is that someone one day when I’m long gone, it may be a little child that says, ‘Mom, what are those shoes up there that you never wear but they sit in that case?’ They’ll say, ‘That’s the AJ2 “Wings,” that’s the H.’ One thing I learned from H is you can be kind, you can be nice, you always can have a pleasant thing to say to anyone that you pass by. And just maybe one day that person will come back to you and say, ‘You saved my life that day. On that dark day you gave me light.'”

Pop culture’s current obsession with all things Y2K is nothing new — but it also shows no signs of slowing down. And as more fans look back on Jessica Simpson’s twenty-plus years in the spotlight, from pop princess and reality TV pioneer to footwear mogul and 2023 FNAA Icon Award winner, they are also discovering just how influential the star’s Y2K fashion moments were, then and now.

“I honestly keep everything — too many things,” said Simpson, on the set of her FN cover shoot to celebrate the award. “I feel like Y2K will always come back.”

The star admits that she has not one but two storage units that contain her looks from over the years. Not only has she kept most everything from her career — she also remembers all of the details of where and when she wore the looks.

“I just went back and grabbed stuff. And of course I have to tell everybody everything. ‘And this is what I wore when I went to the bathroom in New York, this one time when this paparazzi tripped,'” the star joked. “I remember the stupidest details of everything. But they all have a story. Maybe I should write it down and do a fashion book or something. You never know.”

Here, Simpson breaks down eight of her most memorable looks from the height of her pop career, which also happened to coincide with the Y2K era’s peak fashion years.

2003 – Michael Kors Runway Show at New York Fashion Week

“I loved it so much because I didn’t have to wear a bra and it was very fashion for me at 23 years old,” said Simpson. “That’s when I actually met Michael Kors and he was so kind and generous to me. He let me take the dress home. It was in my closet until I got pregnant with Maxwell, and I never thought I would lose the weight to wear it again. I actually want it back! I wish I hadn’t given it away!”

2004 – The Reality Tour

“This dress was made by Roberto Cavalli, a very dear friend of mine. He really knew how to dress my body especially for stage. By the end of the tour I was spilling out of this dress and it broke in multiple places, but it hung in all summer somehow. I do still have it, it’s in storage.”

2004 – MTV Video Music Awards “

“This is styled by Rachel Zoe, it’s a Valentino dress. I love the metallic, anything bold but also sophisticated. I loved wearing the short hair with it, I felt like I was giving off a different vibe than most people do at the VMAs.”

2005 – “Dukes of Hazzard” Premiere

“My very first role, Daisy Duke. My stylist at the time was Jessica Paster and she took me into Narciso Rodriguez and we picked out this periwinkle blue color. I just loved it so much. I felt like a movie star!”

2005 – Out in New York City

“I was in my element. I am a jeans girl so if I can dress up jeans in any way, it’s going to be with a corset and a BIG flower. I do still have it. This is a good one to keep.”

2005 – ESPY Awards

This is probably one of my all-time favorite dresses. It is just the most classic dress. I had never worn anything fit and flare before. I love the yellow and the cream, it’s Oscar de la Renta. I remember I could hardly breathe. My favorite part is the accessory – the corsage.”

2005 – MTV Video Music Awards

“This was a big year for me. It’s not really a VMAs look. A lot of people don’t wear shorts. But I was Daisy Duke, so I wore shorts. And it was very scandalous because you could see my lace bra. And now it’s so normal. This is a Y2K top. I don’t know if I still have it. Would I wear it again today? Probably, but not with shorts.”

2006 – Performance for “A Public Affair”

“This was press for my last pop record that I did. I had short hair, I just chopped it all off. I was going through a divorce and I just said take it all off. I just wanted to wear something that was comfortable. I love the color. And then I wore a Jessica Simpson Collection boot. 2006 was a big boot moment, that’s when we started launching a lot of things with the brand. I do still have these boots. I just thought it was fun that you could fold them over. Maybe that will come back one day, but it’s a little Renaissance or something.”

Jessica Simpson may be an icon — but that’s not stopping her from taking some advice from her children.

On the red carpet at the 2023 Footwear News Achievement Awards on Nov. 29 in New York, Simpson shared that her eldest daughter Maxwell helped to pick her outfit for the event.

“I said, ‘Which look do you like?’ There was a black dress, there were a couple others. And she said, ‘Definitely the first one you tried on. It’s always the first one, Mom.’ She’s right. It’s always the first one,” said Simpson of her look, a champagne-hued gown covered in crystals, paired with Jessica Simpson Collection gold platforms (“I’m definitely a platform girl — I want the height but also the comfort”) and a white cropped feather jacket.

The music artist, entrepreneur and winner of the FNAA Icon Award revealed more about what her three children Maxwell, 11, Ace, 10 and Birdie, 4, have taught her, on everything from fashion to sports and social media.

“I’m more interested in what my kids think, because there’s nothing jaded about it. There’s something so wholesome about it. [We are] grasping for that wholesomeness in all of the convoluted social media,” Simpson told FN ahead of winning her award.

The star describes daughter Maxwell as one of her “favorite human beings on the planet” and “effortlessly cool.” She also revealed that the pre-teen is a TikTok wiz. “She is very much into the glow-up stuff, how to better yourself. I had to have her explain it to me the other day, because I thought it was literally putting highlighter on her cheeks,” Simpson said. “She said, ‘Mom, no, it’s your inner glow and how to glow up everything in your life.’ Wow, that’s a beautiful concept. If that’s what you’re learning on TikTok, keep going — but just know, those are all filters.”

Her eldest is also interested in the family business that is the Jessica Simpson Collection, which the star co-founded in 2005 and still runs with her mother Tina Simpson (the mother and daughter bought back the entire company from their partners in 2021).

“Max could absolutely take over the brand,” Simpson said of a potential next-generation moment.

And while her eldest daughter has outgrown her in height and shoe size, Simpson said she is still hanging on to her footwear collection for her youngest.

“I saved all of my shoes, hopefully for Birdie. She’s very petite,” she said.

Her son Ace, meanwhile, seems to lives up to his name. “He aces everything. I don’t know if we manifested that somehow,” she said of her 10-year-old, who was named after the star’s grandfather.

The music artist and fashion mogul revealed that while her son has been trying out various sports, he’s also following in the footsteps of his father, Simpson’s husband Eric Johnson, as a young football player, having already played a scrimmage at a Los Angeles Rams halftime show.

“I was the loudest person in the stadium. I asked him, ‘How are you not nervous?’ And he’s like, ‘Mom, if there’s 60,000 people there, at least 30,000 of them are going to go eat a hot dog at halftime.'”

“All my kids are very confident, which I love,” Simpson continued. “Maybe Eric and I are doing something right, by just allowing them to be themselves and not forcing them to do things that we think they’d be good at.”

Zappos CEO Scott Schaefer sees the e-tailer’s work in the adaptive footwear space as part and parcel of the company’s core values.

In a speech accepting the Social Impact Award for Zappos at the 37th annual FN Achievement Awards, held Wednesday in New York, Schaefer and Dana Zumbo, business development manager for Zappos Adaptive, explained how having a positive impact is a core tenet of the company — and was a key motivator in the decision to enter the Adaptive footwear market.

“Giving back to the community is a mission at Zappos that we don’t take lightly,” Schaefer said. “From the hard work that our Zappos for Good team does year round, to the amazing efforts and passion our Zappos Adaptive team has, day in and day out, making a positive impact is at the core of the company’s business.”

Zappos’ introduction to adaptive fashion came in 2014 with a phone call to its famed customer service department. A shopper wanted to return a pair of shoes for her grandson, who had autism, and mentioned that she found it difficult to find shoes built for his specific needs (such as easier open and closure mechanisms). This conversation made its way up the chain to Zappos leadership, including Schaefer, who at the time was working as senior director of finance and operations.

After researching the market and suitable products, Zappos launched the Zappos Adaptive Shopping Experience in 2017. And in March 2019, Zappos further reinforced its commitment to the cause by partnering with “Runway of Dreams,” an organization that supports disability inclusion in the fashion industry, to host an inclusive fashion show during Zappos’ vendor summit.

Over the years, Zappos’ Adaptive selection has grown to include thousands of shoe styles for men, women and kids, from brands such as Adidas, Billy Footwear, Keen, Merrell, Skechers, Puma and many more. And Zappos worked directly with Ugg, Sorel, Reebok and Crocs to help design their adaptive products. (Collections with three more brands are set to launch in 2024.)

“We would not have the impact and experience without the help of so many incredible partners,” Zumbo said. “Collaborating with brands, organizations, influencers and schools in a collective effort to give back really has helped to get us where we are today. So this award also goes out to all of you.”

In 2022, Zappos was the official footwear sponsor of the Special Olympics USA games. The retailer has also continued to work with Runway of Dreams and this fall was recognized at its New York Fashion Week event with the Pioneer of Change Award, presented to Schaefer and Zumbo. Among its many services, Zappos introduced a program in 2020 that offers single shoes for people who might need only one shoe or footwear in different sizes.

“Thank you so much to all of our brand partners who work our Zappos Adaptive team to make products to help people live better independent lives,” said Schaefer, whose eldest son has autism. “It’s work that touches my household, and so many other households in the world.”

For 37 years, the annual FN Achievement Awards — often called the “Shoe Oscars” — have celebrated the style stars, best brand stories, ardent philanthropists, emerging talents and industry veterans. The 2023 event is supported by sponsors Authentic Brands Group, Birdies, Caleres, Crocs, FDRA, Nordstrom, Saucony and Vibram. 

Stacey Bendet attended the 37th annual FN Achievement Awards in New York on Wednesday. She presented the Hall of Fame award to the chief merchandising officer at Saks Fifth Ave, Tracy Margolies.

“Working with Tracy has been an incredible journey,” Bendet said. “Her support of Alice + Olivia and so many brands throughout her career has been immeasurable. We met during her early career days. I was 23 and I’m pretty sure that I rollerbladed to her office with my pants samples in my backpack.”

Bendet is a fashion designer and the creative director of contemporary clothing company Alice + Olivia. The native New Yorker founded her brand in 2002, conceived from the need for the perfect pair of pants. The brand is best known for its dresses and unique formalwear, but it all began with a pair of bell-bottom pants.

“20 years later, we’ve both come a long way. Tracy’s collaborative spirit from her days as a buyer from her current role as the Chief Merchandising role at Saks, she has significantly contributed to the success and growth of so many brands,” Bendet continued. “Her talent as both a buyer and a merchant has created legendary industry success. Let us collectively express our appreciation for Tracy and her extraordinary contribution to the world of fashion.”

For 37 years, the annual FN Achievement Awards — often called the “Shoe Oscars” — have celebrated the style stars, best brand stories, ardent philanthropists, emerging talents and hallowed industry veterans. The 2023 event is supported by sponsors Authentic Brands Group, Birdies, Caleres, Crocs, FDRA, Nordstrom, Saucony and Vibram. 

About the Author

Amina Ayoud is an Assistant Digital Editor for Footwear News, where she writes stories about everything from celebrity style to breaking fashion and shoe releases. Ayoud cultivated a love of all things fashion early in life thanks to a deep love of fashion history and the luxury industry. In her free time, Ayoud is a self-proclaimed fashion nerd and thriftaholic.

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Ancuta Sarca received the Emerging Talent award during the 37th annual FN Achievement Awards held in New York on Wednesday. During the ceremony, the award was presented to Sarca by fellow designer Mary Alice Malone.

“It’s very difficult to find the words to express how I feel right now,” Sarca said after taking the stage to receive her accolade. “Four years ago, when I started my brand from my living room, I could have never imagined that my first ever trip to the United States would be taken to receive an Emerging Talent award. I am extremely grateful for my schooling and for my family in Romania for giving me a strong work ethic.”

Sarca received her bachelor’s degree and MA in Fashion Womenswear at the University of Art and Design of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. 

The Romanian-born designer is a champion for sustainable practices, taking Nike deadstock and turning it into proverbial gold. Her sneaker heel hybrid has garnered major attention in the fashion and footwear scenes, worn by some fashionable figures, including Bella Hadid, Cher, Rosalia and Rihanna. Sarca’s eponymous label debuted in 2019 during London Fashion Week with help from the non-profit designer support project Fashion East.

Sarca aims to reduce fashion’s looming waste by utilizing recycled fabric scraps and repurposing them into something entirely new. Sarca’s label features sustainability at its core, offering fashion and footwear-hungry audiences unique athletic-inspired pieces with a feminine touch. Since its beginnings, Sarca’s brand has taken off. The young designer recently collabora

For 37 years, the annual FN Achievement Awards — often called the “Shoe Oscars” — have celebrated the style stars, best brand stories, ardent philanthropists, emerging talents and industry veterans. The 2023 event is supported by sponsors Authentic Brands Group, Birdies, Caleres, Crocs, FDRA, Nordstrom, Saucony and Vibram. 

About the Author

Amina Ayoud is an Assistant Digital Editor for Footwear News, where she writes stories about everything from celebrity style to breaking fashion and shoe releases. Ayoud cultivated a love of all things fashion early in life thanks to a deep love of fashion history and the luxury industry. In her free time, Ayoud is a self-proclaimed fashion nerd and thriftaholic.

FNAA 2023 Photos: All the Looks From the Red Carpet, Live Updates

View Gallery 105 Images