Lady Gaga, Marc Jacobs, and More at 2011 CFDA Awards

On Monday night in New York City, designers, models, and celebrities will convene for the fashion world’s equivalent of the Oscars: the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards. Anderson Cooper will emcee the ceremony, Lady Gaga will be honored as Fashion Icon of the Year, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen may win an award for their designs for The Row. Even Kanye West is expected to make an appearance, as he presents the International Award to Celine designer Phoebe Philo.

This year, the CFDA Awards are about young talent. Several of this year’s nominees—including the Olsens, Alexander Wang, Prabal Gurung, Patrik Ervell, and Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez—are all under 35. For the past few years, all eyes have been on this group of designers. While they’ve received critical praise, they’ve largely been overlooked for CFDA nominations. Now, it’s the older and more established designers—such as Michael Kors, Calvin Klein’s Francisco Costa, and even Ralph Lauren—who have been shut out. It’s the kids’ turn.

This year, photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin photographed each of the nominees and honorees for the CFDA Journal, which will be distributed during Monday night’s event. “We wanted to do really simple and classic portraits,” Trey Laird, graphics creative director of the awards, tells The Daily Beast. “[Inez and Vinoodh] worked to portray each designer in a new way. Marc Jacobs, for example, appears shirtless with tattoos—but also in a suit. “Sometimes people shoot Marc in a sensational way,” Laird says. “So there is something very elegant about these pictures.”

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Isabel Wilkinson

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