Kim Kardashian West Will Receive the CFDA’s First “Influencer Award”


So basically, the CFDA — Council of Fashion Designers of America — just invented an award to give Kim Kardashian West, and we’re here for it. Kardashian West is a marketing genius after all, selling us beauty products, clothes, her app, and essentially, herself.

The CFDA announced Wednesday that Kim will be the first-ever recipient of the “Influencer Award” at this year’s ceremony. WWD reports that the idea to have an influencer award came from Tommy Hilfiger, who came up with the idea during a board meeting. “[The board] all agreed that Kim was someone who has really impacted the industry and has changed the way brands are presented,” CDFA CEO and President Steven Kolb told WWD. “She’s a friend of a lot of the designers and has had great influence on fashion globally.”

Kim is, of course, stoked about the award, retweeting the announcement and adding, “OMG OMG OMG  ???.” It’s high-time the celeb is recognized for the seismic effect she’s had on pop culture; she’s brought the concept of “personal brand” to the next level with over 200 million followers on social media, and numerous fashion and beauty brands, like KKW Beauty, KKW Fragrance, Kimoji, and Kids Supply.

Some other design and pop culture celebs are nominated this year, too, from Mary-Kate and Ashley’s award for The Row to Donatella Versace’s lifetime achievement award. The ceremony will be on June 4 at the Brooklyn Museum and hosted by Issa Rae. Kolb told WWD that last year’s production had around 100,000 views on the CFDA live-steam. They expect that number to increase exponentially this year due to Kim Kardashian West’s presence.

“By connecting to someone who has that great of influence it also brings more attention to what we’re doing,” he told WWD. “There’s great value in acknowledging her, but also for the event itself and the exposure it brings.”

Now the most important question is, what will she wear?!

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