NEW YORK — WWD’s sister publication Footwear News held the 38th annual Footwear News Achievement Awards Wednesday night at Cipriani South Street and despite it being a tough year for the footwear category, the gala was the biggest yet.
The night — supported by Listrak, Marc Fisher, Nordstrom and Vibram — hosted a mix of industry executives, thought leaders and celebrities, including Rihanna, who wowed the crowd in custom Alaïa and Jacob & Co. diamonds, showing up to support her husband A$AP Rocky’s win for Collaboration of the Year with Puma.
The first honoree of the night went to New Balance for company of the year, presented by multi-Olympic gold medal winner Gabby Thomas and accepted by chief executive officer Joe Preston. “The teamwork that is exhibited across our company is the key reason why we are here tonight,” he said to a room full of applause. “It’s a fearlessly independent mindset that we operate from being privately held that we think allows us that opportunity.”
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Brand of the Year went to two brands: On and Larroudé, with founders and husband-and-wife duo Marina and Ricardo Larroudé taking the stage.
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“What an incredible honor to accept the Brand of the Year award alongside On Running. This is really major, and I cannot believe we have been in business for only four years and this is our second award,” Marina Larroudé, a former fashion editor turned shoe maverick, said. Her husband spoke about the power of vertical integration: “I want to celebrate that there’s a way to do things differently. Most start-ups in the fashion industry, they outsource the production. There is a way to do shoes yourself. Birkenstock does 100 percent of what they do in Germany, Prada has 20 factories that they manage. And if you do that, you can actually take care of the people that are actually doing the shoes for you.”
On’s award was presented by Law Roach, who made the crowd laugh with “I know what you guys are saying, ‘Why is the glamorous Law Roach here — someone who has never run a marathon and doesn’t plan to — presenting an award to a sportswear brand?’ Here is the thing: we have more in common than what you might think. The first and most obvious is Zendaya, my muse who is now their brand partner as they have been creating inspiring campaigns that bring together community movement and storytelling. Secondly, we both believe in challenging the status quo,” Roach stated before passing the award to Sean Damian Tucker, On’s head of marketing North American region.
Icon of the Year Martha Stewart began her speech by questioning what exactly an icon is. She said she asked Siri, which first came back with a definition that it is a symbol on a computer screen or phone and first appeared in the ’70s on the Apple Mac. To laughter in the room, she said she then asked for another definition, adding: “I thought icons were like dead people, but it said it’s person or thing widely admired for having great influence or significance in a particular sphere. So now I just wonder, which icon am I?” she pondered, before pivoting. “It’s a pleasure to be honored alongside the team at Skechers for their great philanthropic work and all the great work that we’ve done together to bring Martha shoes to 40 countries around the world. We started with 10 styles. We now have 500 active SKUs,” she said.
The “Icon” got a lot of love from the podium with several winners throughout the night calling out her legacy as inspiration.
By far the moment of the night, though, went to A$AP Rocky for his win with Puma. It not only brought Rihanna onstage proudly holding his FN cover, but also brought the whole Puma team up, including Puma Group CEO Arne Freundt, accepting the award from Emory Jones of Roc Nation. “You know, initially I just wanted to come up here and just talk a lot of s–t, you know, about how lit and how handsome I am. How we the best. But honestly, I’m very humbled by this whole experience, honestly, and I would rather just say some s–t from the heart that is genuine,” A$AP Rocky said.
He acknowledged Rihanna, who won an FNAA of her own about a decade ago for Fenty by Puma. “Honestly, this is just like one of the best accomplishments ever,” he said. “You know, I was inspired. I saw my lady receive this thing almost a decade ago. Like she inspires me a lot.”
Other awards of the night included Lifetime Achievement Award to Kenneth Cole; Person of the Year, Bjørn Gulden, Adidas; Designer of the Year, Edgardo Osorio, Aquazzura; Retailer of the Year, JD Sports; Style Influencer of the Year, Angel Reese; Launch of the Year, Sneex; Emerging Talent Award, Philéo Landowski; Icon Award for Social Impact, Skechers, and Hall of Fame inductees Susan Itzkowitz, Marc Fisher Footwear; Dave Powers, Deckers Brands, and Tacey Powers, Nordstrom.