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Christian Dior, What Salvatore did Ferragamo, Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld (twice), Miuccia Prada, What do Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren and Estée Lauder all have in common? They are both past recipients of the Neiman Marcus Distinguished Service to Fashion Award, and Brunello Cucinelli will be the next to join the ranks of the esteemed names in fashion. The
awards – once the most prestigious fashion awards in the United States – were launched in 40 and have been since 2016 has been on hold since , when Carolina Herrera brought home a statue designed by William King. At 2023, the awards will return, relaunched to fit the post-lockdown retail landscape.
Geoffrey Van Reemdonck
Photo: Courtesy of Neiman Marcus
Announcing its return today, Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck said the award was the retailer’s way to “innovate the luxury experience” through “retail entertainment” “The heart of the ambition. It’s also growing under the new Neiman Marcus Group Awards moniker: a second prize titled the Neiman Marcus Creative Awards adds to the fashion sphere to identify and nurture up-and-coming brands.
“We define ourselves as a relationship business. The best example of this relationship we have with our customers is that 2% of our customers drive our sales %: This shows that customers have so much trust in us that they entrust us with all their luxury purchases,” Van Raemdonck said of the power of the award-winning format. “We also develop deep relationships with brands: we are proud that they entrust us to create brand moments, retail entertainment or exclusive products for our clients on their behalf.”
Therefore , when a brand wins a Neiman Marcus Award—and the depth of collaboration that goes hand in hand with it—sends a signal to customers in a retail market saturated with online and brick-and-mortar luxury wholesalers, the company owns 40 year-old Dallas, Texas retailer has a deep and special connection to the brands they stock. It is the only retailer in the United States that presents awards to designers; industry awards are usually presented by governing bodies such as the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the British Fashion Council in the United Kingdom. The LVMH Prize is the luxury group’s platform to recognize talent.
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