Rachel Scott Wins CFDA Womenswear Prize as Ralph Lauren Takes Menswear Honor

Rachel Scott won American Womenswear Designer of the Year for her brand Diotima at the 2026 CFDA Fashion Awards on Monday, November 2, 2026. The ceremony took place at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, with Keke Palmer as host. Scott is a Jamaican-American designer, and this is her second CFDA womenswear title. She first won the same award in 2024.

Lupita Nyong'o presented the womenswear award to Scott. USA Today reported that Scott used her acceptance speech to urge action ahead of Election Day. No verbatim text of that speech was published by the outlets that covered the ceremony, so this report does not quote it.

Lauren takes the menswear honor

Ralph Lauren won American Menswear Designer of the Year. Lauren, 87, was at the ceremony to accept the award in person and received a standing ovation from the crowd. Matt Damon presented the menswear award.

Scott won the womenswear prize against a nominee list that included Catherine Holstein for Khaite, Michael Kors, Tory Burch and Wes Gordon for Carolina Herrera. Lauren won the menswear prize against Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne for Public School New York, Thom Browne, Todd Snyder and Willy Chavarria.

The rest of the winners

Ana Khouri won American Accessory Designer of the Year. Colleen Allen won the Google American Emerging Designer of the Year award.

The honorary awards covered a wide field. Tory Burch received the Positive Change Award. Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin received the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award. Anthony Vaccarello was named International Designer of the Year. Linda Fargo received the Founder's Award in honor of Eleanor Lambert. Eva Chen received the Media Award in honor of Eugenia Sheppard. Susan Cianciolo received the Isabel Toledo Board of Directors' Tribute. Peter Marino received the Fashion Icon Award, and GAP Inc received the Innovation Award presented by Amazon Fashion.

The CFDA awards are the American fashion industry's main annual honors, and the 2026 edition put two repeat names at the top of its two biggest design categories: Scott, winning womenswear for the second time in three years, and Lauren, one of the most decorated names in American menswear.

The full picture of the night underlines how the CFDA spread its honors across design, media and retail. The two headline design prizes went to Scott and Lauren. The accessory prize went to Khouri, and the emerging designer prize went to Allen. The honorary list then ran from Burch and the lifetime achievement pair of van Lamsweerde and Matadin to Vaccarello for international design, Fargo, Chen and Cianciolo in the founder, media and board tribute categories, Marino as fashion icon, and GAP Inc for innovation. Between them, the presenters for the two biggest prizes, Nyong'o for womenswear and Damon for menswear, gave the ceremony its clearest shape: a second title for Scott, three years after her first, and a career honor on the night for Lauren at 87.