The Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards (awarded 1943–1984) were created in 1942 by the cosmetics and perfume company

Coty, Inc. Coty Inc. is an American-French multinational beauty company founded in 1904 by François Coty. With its subsidiaries, it develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes fragrances, cosmetics, skin care, nail care, and both professional and re ...

to promote and celebrate

American fashion American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the " United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

, and encourage design during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1985, the Coty Awards were discontinued with the last presentation of the awards in September 1984; the CFDA Awards fulfill a similar role. It was casually referred to as "fashion's Oscars" because it once held great importance within the fashion industry and the award ceremonies were glitzy galas.

History

The Coty Awards were conceived and created by Coty, Inc. Executive Vice President, Jean Despres, founder of

The Fragrance Foundation The Fragrance Foundation is the non-profit, educational arm of the international fragrance industry, founded in 1949. It sponsors the annual Fragrance Foundation Awards, awarded since 1973. History and operations Linda G. Levy is the president Je ...

and

FiFi Awards The FiFi Awards are an annual event sponsored by The Fragrance Foundation which honor the fragrance industry's creative achievements. Known as the "Oscars of the fragrance industry", the awards ceremony was conceived by the former president of ...

, and Grover Whalen (a member of the New York City Mayor's Committee, and president of the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...

). The fashion publicist

Eleanor Lambert Eleanor Lambert (August 10, 1903 – October 7, 2003) was an American fashion publicist. She was instrumental in increasing the international prominence of the American fashion industry and in the emergence of New York City as a major fashion ca ...

was employed to promote and produce the awards. The awards were given solely to designers based in America, unlike the

Neiman Marcus Fashion Award The Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion was a yearly award created in 1938 by Carrie Marcus Neiman and Stanley Marcus. Unlike the Coty Award, it was not limited to American-based fashion designers. Recipients of th ...

s. Until its discontinuation in 1985, the Coty Award was considered one of the most prestigious awards in the field of fashion. The awards were designed by

Malvina Hoffman Malvina Cornell Hoffman (June 15, 1885July 10, 1966) was an American sculptor and author, well known for her life-size bronze sculptures of people. She also worked in plaster and marble. Hoffman created portrait busts of working-class people and ...

. The

womenswear Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

awards are popularly known as Winnies; the menswear award which began in 1968 has no name. Repeat awards were the Return Award and the Hall of Fame award. Special Awards were also awarded to designers in specialist fields. The popularity of this award began to decline in the late 1970s due to perceived commercial interests by the parent company. In 1979, designers Calvin Klein and Halston announced they would no longer accept the Winnie award. The same year, in 1979, Coty released the ''Coty Awards make up kit'' in order to profit off of the awards ceremony, which was perceived by the fashion designers to have cheapened the event. The newly founded

Council of Fashion Designers of America The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), founded in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert, and headquartered in Manhattan, is a not-for-profit trade association comprising a membership of over 450 American fashion and accessory d ...

(CFDA) appeared more democratic in ideology and began to compete with the Coty Award by 1980 with the CFDA Awards. In June 1985, Donald Flannery, the senior vice-president of

Pfizer, Inc. Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

, Coty's parent company, announced that since the awards had successfully brought America into the worldwide fashion scene, it was decided to discontinue them.Coty Awards discontinued after 4 decades

Daily News Record ''Daily News Record'' (or ''DNR'') was an American fashion trade journal published by Fairchild Publications, Inc. ''DNR'' started in 1890 when Edmund Fairchild used the wealth he had accumulated selling soap to purchase the '' Chicago Herald G ...

, June 1985

Recipients of the award

1943–1949

1950–1959

1960–1969

1970–1979

1980–1984

References

{{Reflist

External links

Coty Homepage

– Associated Press article Fashion awards American fashion Awards established in 1943 1943 establishments in the United States Awards disestablished in 1984 1984 disestablishments in the United States Coty Inc.