Women’s Wear Daily has revealed additional honorees who will be recognized at the annual WWD Honors gala the evening of Oct. 27 at Cipriani South Street in Manhattan.
The gala will take place the first night of the WWD Apparel & Retail CEO Summit on Oct. 27 and 28.
The additional honorees are:
- Morris Goldfarb, chairman and chief executive officer of G-III Apparel Group, with the WWD Creative Leadership Honor;
- Haider Ackermann, creative director of Tom Ford, with the WWD Honor for Womenswear Designer of the Year;
- Michael Rider, artistic director of Celine, with the WWD Honor for Menswear Designer of the Year;
- Henry Zankov of his own label and Diane von Fustenberg, with the WWD One to Watch Honor.
Courtesy G-III
They join as honorees Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, who will receive the WWD John B. Fairchild Honor. Additional honorees will be revealed in coming weeks.
Goldfarb is being recognized for his long career leading G-III, one of the most successful U.S. apparel companies that owns brands such as Donna Karan, DKNY, Karl Lagerfeld, Sonia Rykiel, Vilebrequin, Andrew Marc and G.H. Bass. It also holds the licenses for brands including Champion, Converse, Cole Haan, Kenneth Cole and more.
G-III’s most recent deal involved forming a 50-50 venture with WHP Global for the Marc Jacobs brand, which involves it acquiring and managing the global Marc Jacobs operating business.
The Colombian-born Ackermann was named creative director of Tom Ford fashion in September 2024, the latest chapter in a long career that has included his own brand as well as stints at Berluti and Canada Goose, where he remains creative director.
Tom Ford
At Tom Ford fashion, which is owned by Ermenegildo Zegna Group, he has applied his tailoring skills to a fall 2026 collection filled with dark-edged tailoring that he said was about “standing straight in life, facing everything that’s happening in the world.”
Rider was named Celine’s artistic director in October 2024 and showed his first collection for the house in July 2025. He previously was creative director at Polo Ralph Lauren and worked for a decade at Celine with Phoebe Philo.
Michael Rider
Courtesy Photo
Over the last year he has carved out a strong image for the brand, which is owned by LVMH, injecting a preppy, optimistic vocabulary. His men’s show in Paris in June was one of the season’s standouts, and was, as WWD wrote, “an exhilarating display” that “felt like we were finally seeing something new.”
The Russian-born, American designer Zankov worked at several brands, including DKNY/Donna Karan, Edun and DVF, before launching his own brand, which he presented for several seasons before holding his first runway show in September 2025. He was named artistic director of the DVF label in May.
Henry Zankov
Courtesy of Diane Von Furstenberg
“The talent we recognize at WWD Honors this year is truly the gold standard of vision and craftsmanship that WWD has stood for, for over 100 years: they continually raise the bar, challenge our perspective, and redraw the boundaries of the cultural and business landscape,” said Amanda Smith, CEO of Fairchild Media Group. “I am so proud we have this platform to spotlight not only their extraordinary achievements this year but acknowledge the promise of what they will build tomorrow.”
“We are excited to recognize the achievements of Haider, Michael, Morris and Henry, adding to the stellar lineup for this year’s WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit and WWD Honors,” said James Fallon, chief content officer of WWD and Fairchild Media Group. “Haider and Michael have rapidly turned their Tom Ford and Celine shows into must-sees in Paris, while Morris has successfully built G-III into a major designer fashion player. Meanwhile, Henry has become one of the fastest-rising stars in New York Fashion Week and now leads both his own label and the creative direction of Diane von Furstenberg. Congratulations to all four honorees.”
The annual star-studded WWD Honors event brings together the industry’s leading executives, creatives and changemakers for an evening recognizing those whose work continues to define the future of fashion, beauty and retail.
The 2026 WWD Honors event is sponsored by presenting partner Aily Labs. Event Partners also include Aetrex, Boston Consulting Group, Disney Consumer Products, Google, JP Morgan, Katten, Pixel Moda, and more to follow.
