Harlem’s Fashion Row Fetes Erykah Badu and More at 19th Awards Show

New York Fashion Week was ushered in with community and celebration on Tuesday at the 19th annual Harlem’s Fashion Row Fashion Show and Style Awards. The event celebrated six honorees and showcased the work of three emerging designers of color at The Glasshouse in New York City.

This year’s theme was “Peace by Piece,” which founder and CEO Brandice Daniel explained in her opening remarks: “There’s something that I know now that I didn’t know when I started this and it’s that you don’t have to build everything overnight in chaos or afraid. You can build in peace — peace by piece. That is Harlem’s Fashion Row, one piece at a time.”

The awards kicked off with the Stylist of the Year honor going to Jahleel Weaver, Rihanna’s stylist and former Fenty creative director who now has his own consultancy business. His friend and first client, footwear designer Amina Muaddi, flew in from Paris to present him with the award, lauding his character, talent and how he made a baby bump the “It” accessory through his work with Rihanna.

Among many thanks, Weaver expressed gratitude to the Fenty founder in his acceptance speech. “My understanding of what is possible would not exist without Rihanna. Rihanna, thank you for being one of the first people to recognize my talent, my potential and more importantly, for seeing something in me before I can see it necessarily even in myself. You gave me an opportunity that changed the course of my life. The trust you placed in me and the freedom you gave me to create without limitation have been amongst one of the greatest gifts of my career.”

Designer of the Year Brandon Blackwood gave a heartfelt shout out to his mom, who was in the room. “When I started Brandon Blackwood, I really had no idea what I was doing. I just had an idea, a clear vision, and I was stubborn enough to keep going. But entrepreneurship is something I already had seen firsthand. My mother, Carleen Haughton, was my first example of what it looked like to bet on yourself. I watched a Black woman in New York become a contractor, own a restaurant, work on Wall Street and constantly reinvent what I looked at as possible for myself. Because of her, I learned very early that no dream is stupid.”

Editor of the Year honoree Recho Omondi, who founded the popular fashion podcast “The Cutting Room Floor” and now has a major deal with Patreon, discussed her career roots. “I think a lot of people don’t realize that I started the beginning of my career, easily the first 12 years, in the back of house, in factories with patternmakers, on the production line, fabric mills — the absolutely least glamorous aspect of the business, and I’ve always held those craftsmen in the highest regard. A lot of them immigrants, a lot of their work gone unnoticed … I fell in love with the unseen parts of the business.”

Fashion industry veteran Audrey Smaltz, known for modeling, her work with the Ebony Fashion Fair and starting her own production company, received the Ann Lowe Maverick Award.

Smaltz, 89, said on stage, “My career in fashion has taken me from Harlem to Ebony and opened doors I could never have imagined. In 1977, the journey led me to create the Ground Crew, a backstage production company for high fashion runway shows … My company was a novel concept at the time. I had an idea. I planted it out and I put it in action. I hope my legacy inspires you to believe in the power of your own ideas. If you see something that doesn’t exist, create it and make it happen.”

Model and fashion-focused social media influencer Wisdom Kaye accepted the Virgil Abloh Award presented by LVMH. Growing up in Texas and moving around, Kaye recalled how it was difficult to make friends and find community — but he always enjoyed making things, be it aluminum foil characters or digital content on his mom’s phone. “I always liked making things no matter where I went and there was always this passion to continue to do so,” he said. “But I never thought that with an iPhone and a corner of my room that I would inspire people all over the world.”

Queen of Neo Soul Erykah Badu was given the Fashion Icon Award. Author Mikki Taylor said in an introduction, “Few experiences have given me greater creative joy than working with someone so deliberate in the authorship of herself. She understood that images, language and authenticity, well, it’s authority. Long before authenticity became a marketing term, Badu lived it. The music, the towering head wraps, the commanding silhouettes, the sets, the eclectic mixes of texture, proportion and influence worn as both art and armor against mediocrity.”

Badu couldn’t be present but said in an acceptance video, “I’ve always been a storyteller in music and through words and through visuals — and it does not stop with my style, and the way I express myself, the way I dress, the way I show up, it’s all an expression of me. It’s always a political statement too, because nobody does it like Black people when it comes to style. We’ve been copied, we’ve been imitated, we have been pushed to the back. But we are so resilient, we just create and continue to create and create and create.”

The awards show was followed by a fashion show kicked off with a presentation from American Girl and 11-year-old designer Brooke Sumpter. Next up were spring 2027 collections by three designers to watch from the Runway Ahead Designer Fellowship: Atelier Ndigo by Waina Chancy, Rey Jaiteh and Chuks Collins. The fellowship is presented through HFR’s nonprofit Icon360 and launched by the PVH Foundation. Chancy, who showcases artistic craftsmanship and a sculptural approach to womenswear, was awarded the Runway Ahead Prize of $100,000. Her colorful work pulled inspiration from the “digo” blue Haitian laundry ball.

A long list of partners made the night possible, ranging from Nike to Tiffany & Co. Previous Fashion Icon awardee Tracee Ellis Ross joined the event as a sponsor through her brand Pattern Beauty. Also on the list is Susan G. Komen, which partnered with HFR’s 2023 Designer of the Year Stella Jean on a tap-to-give T-shirt to support breast cancer research.

The evening concluded with Daniel emphasizing the importance of community, reminding everyone that they’re a part of “the village.”