NEW YORK—Eyewear was a bright star within the glittering array of accessories and fashion brands at the lively 20th anniversary gala for the Accessories Council’s ACE awards, honoring individuals and companies who have furthered the awareness and use of accessories.
Held at the elegant Cipriani’s on 42nd Street here, there was a diverse range of honorees in 2016, including Ray-Ban, honored as Brand of the Year, MCM with the Trendsetter Award and Vera Bradley with the Humanitarian Award.
Other honorees included Marie Claire, for the Media Award, Kering for Sustainability Award, Bergdorf Goodman as the Retailer of the Year Award, Jennifer Fisher as Influencer Award, Julianna Margulies & Daniel Lawson for the Style Influencer Award for their work on “The Good Wife,” Rosenthal & Rosenthal, Inc. for the Business Leadership Award; Paul Andrew for Brand Launch, Coach, accepted by Stuart Vevers, for Designer of the Year Award and Sarah Jessica Parker for Brand Visionary.
Presenters and other guests included Priyanka Chopra, Debra Messing, Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough, Zosia Mamet, Narciso Rodriguez, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, Rebecca Minkoff, Adam Glassman, Dree Hemingway, Reed Krakoff and Scott Schuman. Schuman, of The Sartorialist, presented Fabrizio Uguzzoni of Luxottica, with Ray-Ban’s award.
To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Accessories Council teamed up with Swarovski and created an ACE Award with a custom crystal effect, custom crystal decorations on stage and Swarovski crystal bracelets for guests. Additionally, lead sponsors of the event include Sunrise Brands, Marchon, Swarovski, Judith Leiber Couture, LIM College Bulgari and Luxottica.
All photos are by John Calabrese except otherwise indicated.
2016 ACE Awards
NY’s Cipriani 42nd Street was the glamorous setting for the Accessories Council’s 20th Anniversary ACE Awards.
2016 ACE Awards
Accessories Council’s Frank Zambrelli, (l) and Karen Giberson (second from right) with Retailer of the Year honorees Linda Fargo, (second from left) and Joshua Schulman (r) of Bergdorf Goodman. Photo courtesy of Getty Images for Accessories Council.
2016 ACE Awards
Actress and fashion designer, Sarah Jessica Parker, greeted photographers on the ACE red carpet. She was honored as Brand Visionary for her new footwear collection.
2016 ACE Awards
Actress Debra Messing arrives at ACE, a presenter at the Awards.
2016 ACE Awards
(L to R) Safilo’s Ira Greenhouse, Mary Belle and XpresSpa’s Ed Jankowski. Photo courtesy of Getty Images for Accessories Council.
2016 ACE Awards
Adam Glassman of Oprah Magazine, with Barbara Bradley Baekfaard, co-founder, Vera Bradley, who was honored with Humanitarian Award. Photo courtesy of Getty Images for Accessories Council.
2016 ACE Awards
Sarah Jessica Parker was presented her award as Brand Visionary by “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
2016 ACE Awards
(L to R) Marchon’s Lloyd Gittler, VP retail; Andy Skitmore, SVP Americas; Thomas Burkhardt, SVP global licensing and marketing; and Seth Goldberger, VP U.S. designer brands and regional brand management, Americas.
2016 ACE Awards
Brooks Brothers’ chairman and CEO, Claudio Del Vecchio (l) with Luxottica Wholesale NA’s president, Fabrizio Uguzzoni.
2016 ACE Awards
Silhouette Optical’s Erin Farley (l) with Jan Cory, Silhouette’s U.S. president and A/C board member.
2016 ACE Awards
(L to R) Luxottica Wholesale NA’s Michele Pesce, VP of strategy & analytics and Laurent Boury, VP marketing, with Alessandro Mariani, senior brand director, Ray-Ban and Alessandro Lucanto, senior director, key accounts, Luxottica Wholesale NA.
2016 ACE Awards
MCM’s Ella Kim, chief merchandising officer, accepted the Trendsetter ACE Award on behalf of the fashion brand.
2016 ACE Awards
Karen Giberson, Accessories Council president, kicks off the anniversary event. Later in the evening the A/C board surprised Giberson with its first annual President’s Award for her innovative work on behalf of the group.
2016 ACE Awards
Safilo’s Eden Wexler (c) with Mark Ugenti, SVP of sunglass sales and Enrico Sanavia, brand director, licensed brands.
2016 ACE Awards
FGX International’s Dave Vander Schaaf with designer Corinne McCormack.
2016 ACE Awards
Fashion designer, Narcisco Rodriguez (c) presented the Style Influencer award to actress Julianna Margulies and Daniel Lawson, costume designer, for their work together on “The Good Wife.”
2016 ACE Awards
(L to R) Lucia Della Rosa, retail sales manager at Marchon; Patricia Saxby, VP divisional merchandise manager at Bergdorf Goodman; Jillian Firestone, buyer for cosmetics, fragrances and sunglasses at Bergdorf Goodman; Mark Ginsberg, chief marketing officer at VSP Global; Lloyd Gittler, VP of retail at Marchon; Jennifer Dow, buyer at Neiman Marcus; and Joe Grosso, regional VP retail sales at Marchon.
2016 ACE Awards
Luxottica Wholesale NA president, Fabrizio Uguzzoni, accepts Brand of the Year honor for Ray-Ban from The Sartorialist, Scott Schuman.
2016 ACE Awards
After the award, waiters served a pair of Ray-Bans to all the ACE attendees.
2016 ACE Awards
Debra Messing and honoree Jennifer Fisher show off their Ray-Bans.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images for Accessories Council.