The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) hosted the 2025 AAFA American Image Awards at Gotham Hall in midtown Manhattan. Emceed by Bloomberg’s Chief Markets Correspondent, Scarlet Fu, the gala honored leaders and advocates across the apparel and footwear industries. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Foundation was the event’s longstanding charitable beneficiary.
The recipients of the 2025 American Image Awards were: Target as Retailer of the Year, accepted by Bill Foudy, Senior Vice President and President of Owned Brands; American Textile Company as Company of the Year, accepted by Lance Ruttenberg, President and CEO; Dr. D’Wayne Edwards, President of Pensole Lewis College as Fashion Maverick; Katherine Gold, President and CEO of GoldBug as Trailblazer; Apparel Impact Institute as Eco-Steward of the Year, accepted by President Lewis Perkins; and Ulla Johnson as Designer of the Year.
The annual event focuses on celebrating the achievements the fashion industry makes each year. The mood of celebration was palpable in the room, despite the substantial uncertainty currently being fostered by the current administration in Washington. The pending trade issues were the elephant in the room that seemed to be top of mind of every executive in the room, but was being kept out of conversation. That was, until the Trailblazer award recipient, Katherine Gold brought it up in a manner that added a great deal of levity to the evening. “I’ve only been asked to receive awards twice in my professional life. The first one was when GoldBug was given the vendor of the year honor at WalMart, only months before the entire country fell into the throes of a global pandemic. And now, here tonight, I stand before you at a time when we are in the midst of a global trade crisis,” Gold continued, “I think we can all agree that none of us in this room can afford to have me accept another award…”
I believe that achieving a better tomorrow for all of us is completely doable if we each make doing so part of our core corporate conviction.
-Katherine Gold, CEO of GoldBug
Continuing the theme, Lewis Perkins emphasized the holistic side of sustainability, stating, “Because sustainability is not just a technical challenge—it’s a human one. It’s about reconnecting the soul of a company to the soul of its purpose.”
Representing American Textile Company, Lance Ruttenberg reflected on the company’s 100-year anniversary, sharing, “We believe in sharing our success with the communities and people that have supported us on this journey in ways that can make their lives just a little better in the cities we have operations. If we can succeed in business while giving back to those people and those communities, we hope to have demonstrated being worthy of this incredible recognition received this evening.”
Following dinner, the program spotlighted Laura Weber of LW Weber, a CFDA grant recipient who spoke about the critical impact of CFDA’s support on American manufacturing. Ulla Johnson made an emotional statement using her designs “to continue to celebrate women’s voices, our collective power, and our hard won rights for all those less fortunate than I, and for my daughter and all the daughters in generations to come.”
She was followed by Dr. D’Wayne Edwards, who inspired the room with a message of resilience, stating, “At Pensole Lewis our mission is clear… Make dreams accessible to everyone willing to work hard for it.”
The final remarks came from Bill Foudy, speaking on behalf of Target, who shared, “I want to thank AAFA for their partnership and for being a trusted voice for the apparel and footwear industry… The work you do to help shape public policy and ensure we are represented at the national level has never been more important.”
As we face a challenging time for our industry, the 2025 American Image Awards is a powerful reminder of why we remain optimistic. The honorees we celebrate tonight embody the creativity, resilience, and vision that continue to push us forward. This year has already tested us in new ways, but it’s clear that unity and diversity—across people, ideas, and approaches—are what will drive us through. Our 2025 American Image Award honorees show exactly why our industry will not just endure, but thrive
Steve Lamar, President & CEO of AAFA
The nearly decade old alliance of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Foundation with the AAFA as the charitable benefactor of the American Image Awards was also a consistent theme of the evening. CFDA President & CEO Steven Kolb took to the podium to not only thank the AAFA, but to introduce the Designer of the Year award recipient Ulla Johnson. Ms. Johnson gave a heartfelt & impassioned acceptance speech highlighting her commitment to inspiring women to realize their professional dreams for generations to come.
One notable upgrade to the 2025 event was the arrivals. The electricity on the red carpet was palpable as guests include designers Reem Acra, Kate Barton, John Bartlett, Olivia Cheng, Chuks Collins, Aisling Camps, Jonathan Cohen, Ruthie Davis, Ken Downing, Dr. D’Wayne Edwards, Evan Hirsch, D’On Lauren Edwards, Joseph Millman of Chamberlin, Bibhu Mohapatra, Jameel Mohammed, Cynthia Rowley, Kim Shui, Emily Smith of Lafayette 148, Cyril Verdavainne, Jane Wade, and Houston White. Other VIP guests included influencers Tijana Ibrahimovich, Jen Su, former Miss Earth 2020 Lindsey Coffey, and Caroline Vazzana, as well as Maryanne Grisz of Fashion Group International, iconic model Frederique van der Wal, financier Gary Wassner of Hilldun Corporation, couture beading & handwork specialist Laura Weber of LW Pearl, Jack Ouellette of American Textile Company, Halide Alagöz of Ralph Lauren Corporation, and Gail Klapper of The Klapper Firm. Also in attendance were previous honorees Brandice Daniel of Harlem’s Fashion Row, and Federica Marchionni of Global Fashion Agenda.
