Last year, Alexander Wang won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award and this year he’s won the Swiss Textile award.

The prize, which comes with 100,000 euros (about $150,000) was given to Rodarte last year. The money’s meant to help younger brands develop their international presence though really, aside from the runners up who are given Swiss fabric vouchers, it can be used for anything. The judging panel included Isabel Toledo and i-D’s Ben Reardon.

Alex said, “I’m so honored to take this award…This year has been an amazing year for us as a company and as a family. Taking it forward and growing as a business has helped us realize a lot of things. The monetary component [of this prize] is always a big help, no matter what size business you are. The most important thing is to keep improving what you do and keep on moving forward. [It’s] like the cherry on the cake.”

Is there anything else left for him to win?

And charity!

The industry’s famous Taco Tuesdays are back. And as always, everyone’s invited. We always love hitting up Rewind and having our fashion friends mix us up margaritas and other assorted cocktails. And while there’s no battle of the bartenders tonight, it’s sure to be a good time.

The publicists from Krupp Group are hosting with all the proceeds going to the CFDA’s Fashion Targets Breast Cancer Campaign.

You’ll be sure to spot some of their clients like Phillip Crangi and Rachel Comey…maybe they’ll even make your drink. There’ll be tons of raffle prizes and live music too.

Plus, who doesn’t love a $2 taco and a $5 marg after a depressingly dreary day? There’s no need to RSVP, just show up. Details after the jump!

Right On: Tabitha Simmons styled a great mini-shoot with the 2009 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists. There are actors (Sebastian Stan), there are models (Lily Donaldson), there are designers (Patrick Ervell) and there are really great clothes. {Vogue}

Best Dressed: Nora & Delia Ephron talk about their new Broadway play, Love, Loss, and What I Wore, which they adapted from Ilene Beckerman’s book. They reflect on Saks, I. Magnin, Audrey Hepburn and the magic of the perfect outfit. {Glamour}

Sex Sells: We’d kind of forgotten about the Sex and the City sequel, but now Penelope Cruz is in it and we’re suddenly really interested. Whoever dressed in her in that head-to-toe Rick Owens look the other night could give Pat a run for her money. {Grazia}

WTF: Pamela Anderson apparently used a random nine-year-old girl to hold up her train all night at an awards show. Um, and referred to her as her “daughter” and made her sit at her feet? Well, that’s the weirdest part of the day so far. Other than the fact that I was on the Fox News site. {FoxNews}

The only movie that’s made me laugh harder than The September Issue this year is The Hangover.

Anna Wintour is funny; my mascara is smudged from tears of laughter. The film may start out with Anna saying that fashion’s picked on because people are bitter they aren’t a cool kid, but she only gets more human from there and by the end you might even want to hug her.

Grace Coddington is, as reported, the real star of the movie. Her inner turmoil over the changing industry and her role in Anna’s history plays out on screen and one can’t help but sympathize with her as Anna cancels more and more of her shoots.

The movie travels from New York to Paris for couture to London for a meeting with Mario Testino to Rome for Sienna’s shoot and back to New York to close the issue and present it to Si Newhouse. In Paris, we cringed when Anna shut Stefano Pilati down; in London we laughed at Mario’s grandly cinematic ideas and in Rome we admired Sienna’s energy and Sally Singer’s patience.

Five questions for the Fashion Week calendar:

1. Why is a man named Cesar Galindo going up against both Anna Wintour and the Mayor of New York City by staging a runway show in the middle of Fashion’s Night Out? And how does he have that much money to throw away? Also, is he related to Rudy Galindo?

2. Why does Vladimir Roitfeld get a box on Tuesday September 15th (which, by the way, he shares with DSquared2 which is interesting)? His event, or whatever it is, lasts from 6-11 and overlaps with Narciso’s show.

So you wanna be a part of Fashion’s Night Out?

We’ve got your chance.

To publicize what is sure to be one of the most amazing nights September has ever seen, the CFDA is filming a PSA which will run on TV, in taxis, and online.

The spot will include well-known designers, celebrities, and models, as you would expect. But for the finale they want YOU!

The CFDA held a ‘town hall’ meeting yesterday to talk about all the issues the fashion industry’s facing as we enter SS10 Fashion Week.

We like to think there was yelling and hand raising and a chalkboard and a gavel, but really it sounds like Diane von Furstenberg did her best to calm everyone’s nerves and focus on one problem at a time while Anna Wintour made silly statements like, “We have friends in the White House now,” while proposing something illegal.

The general consensus is that the root of the problem (aside from the obvious economic woes) is the customer’s confusion. And as anyone who’s ever worked in retail can attest, it is in fact baffling for most customers to face a fur coat in July and a bikini in January. Why would they buy it then when they can wait until it’s actually cold (or hot) outside and buy it for 70% less? The Pres repeatedly advocated shipping wear-now product, something Elie Tahari says he’s been doing very successfully.

Reed Krakoff’s starting his own fashion house.

The President and Creative Director of Coach (and Vice President of the CFDA) is ready to do his own thing in tandem with his responsibilities at the mega-brand. The project, however, is entirely funded by Coach which gives him the unique advantage of being able to launch his line for AW10 with ready-to-wear, bags, shoes and jewelry - not your average sixteen piece start-up collection. In fact, he’s already talking to WWD about men’s clothes, furniture and fragrances.

“It’s about a new craftsmanship,” he said, citing brands like Miu Miu and Balenciaga as inspiration, though he talks more about brand building than design and sounds more like a sound businessman than a passionate artist.

The only peek we have so far is the fluffy black organza dress Reed’s wife Delphine wore to the CFDAs in June (at left) - it’s from the upcoming line and so far, we like it. You have to be crazy to launch “the next great American fashion house” right now and crazy makes for good design.

Vogue and the CFDA announced their Fashion Fund Finalists the other day.

We’re loving the list of lesser known designers - Ohne Titel’s inclusion had us squealing with delight - but what we’d really love to see are the applications.

Word is House of Waris designer Waris Ahluwalia, who if you don’t know from fashion you know from The Darjeeling Limited - got in with a little help from his social friends.

Kate Reigns: Just in case you thought Kate Moss would ever be less sartorially influential, think again. Here’s a rundown of all the resort shows inspired by the super. If anyone can convince us to wear gold lamé, well, it’s obviously Kate. {StyleFile}

Oh Goody: Vanessa Bruno’s making a short film staring Lou Doillon. Stephanie Di Giusto will direct and there will be a screening in July before it’s available online. {Fashionologie}

Beam Me Up Scotty: Band Of Outsider’s Scott Sternberg answers W’s questions on the CFDAs and NY vs LA. He says that if Paris Hilton tried to wear his clothes he’d tell her, “That the moon is on fire and she better get outside and help put it out right this instant.” As if we could love him more. {W}

Same Old, Same Old: We are creatures of habit, but we’re still not sure we could wear one dress, and one dress only, for a whole year. Having the same thing for lunch each afternoon, not a problem. {Guardian UK}

Donatella Versace threw a lavish dinner party in Milan last night at the close of a very brief and very sobering Men’s Fashion Week. She told The New York Times that the world will re-discover its love of excessive luxury in no time.

While she holds her breath, we’re going to enjoy the ways in which the fashion industry repeatedly comes together to help out the struggling. Like Elie Tahari partnering with the CFDA to rotate jewelry designers in his East Hampton shop this summer.

Kara Ross, Me & Ro, Stephen Dweck and Subversive’s Justin Giunta are among those with mini pop-ups in the Tahari store, complete with signs in the windows, for two weeks at a time from July 1st through September. Each will make personal appearances, too.

Tahari told WWD, “I wanted to show my support for the fashion industry by giving these designers a platform from which to raise the awareness of their brands and be seen in a highly trafficked environment such as the Hamptons.”

Cover Boy: GQ and Bruno…together at last. We would have killed to be on that set. {NY Post}

Who’s the Fairest of them All? Vanity Fair’s trying to figure out who the best looking man is. We hear our favorite polo player, Nacho, is pulling away from our favorite vampire, R Patz. May the best man win. {Vanity Fair}

Who Wears Short Shorts? Well, maybe they weren’t all that short but Alex Wang rocked some at the CFDAs. In a shocking twist, Marc wore pants. {StyleFile}

TMI: We now know more about the self-proclaimed world’s first supermodel than we ever cared to. {Jezebel}

Cape Marriage: Despite internet rumors to the contrary, MJ says he and Lorenzo are still doing the “I dos” in Provincetown. {FWD}

Who won big last night at the CFDAs? Here’s the full list:

Womenswear Designer of the Year: Rodarte’s Laura and Kate Mulleavy
Menswear Designer of the Year (tie): Calvin Klein’s Italo Zucchelli and Band of Outsiders’ Scott Sternberg
Accessory Designer of the Year: Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez
Swarovski Award for Womenswear: Alexander Wang
Swarovski Award for Menswear: Tim Hamilton
Swarovski Award for Accessory Design: Justin Giunta for Subversive Jewelry
International Award: Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton
Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award: Anna Sui
Eugenia Sheppard Award: Women’s Wear Daily editor-in-chief Ed Nardoza
Eleanor Lambert Award: GQ’s Jim Moore
Board of Director’s Special Tribute: First Lady Michelle Obama

We’ve been anxiously awaiting the new CFDA Design Edition khakis at the GAP. Not as much as the white shirts, but still we’re excited.

Even better, we just learned that GAP’s Patrick Robinson along with designers Alexander Wang, Albertus Swanepoel, and the Vena Cava girls Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai will all be at the 54th and 5th store on Tuesday at 10:30 to say hi and launch the collection.

The lines will be likely be major. Go early, or risk going home empty-handed. And if you pick up one of Alexander Wang’s motorcycle jackets for us while you’re there, we’ll love you forever.

Gap is making kids’ clothes with Stella McCartney.

Aside from their CFDA initiatives, the San Francisco-based company has avoided the designer collaboration craze as much as Stella’s wholeheartedly embraced it.

The Brit’s done a one-off for H&M, an exclusive for Net-a-Porter (which included a few children’s pieces), and designs for Adidas and LeSportsac. The collection, which also includes baby clothes, launches at the end of this year.

She told WWD, “I believe that this one-off collaboration will be a great way for customers to be able to participate in the Stella McCartney brand. I believe that kids’ clothing should be more accessibly priced, which is particularly important at the moment, given the current climate.”

We predict a massive line of petite women shoving their bodies into size 14 t-shirts at Gap Kids come the debut.

For this year’s CFDA Journal portraits of the nominees, models and muses were replaced by the designers themselves.

DvF told the creative team she wanted something “fabulous” and from what we’ve seen so far, she should be very pleased.

WWD has a few of the photographs, including this one of Marc wearing his LV bunny ears and one of Jason Wu donning a gown over his suit.

Craig McDean photographed the nominees and in perhaps the most prophetic shot, captured the Proenza Schouler boys wearing their handbags as boxing gloves.

If only they’d been armed that fateful night when Kiefer Sutherland went on the attack.

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

See this rather large rabbit. He’s actually a five foot tall trash receptacle designed by Paul Smith as part of London’s Super Contemporary Commissions Show.

He, along with his bunny friends, will today become part of the Covent Garden and Holland Park neighborhoods. When you throw trash in him, his ears literally light up.

How cool is that? Don’t you think that will make kids and adults alike more excited about throwing away their trash?

We know you love beautifying this fair city of ours. So how about enlisting Marc, DvF, Donna, Oscar and the crew to design some chic garbage bins of our very own? And let’s not limit it to just Manhattan. Let’s take this project to every borough.

We know times are tough and budgets are tight. But we bet the CFDA would get involved. And some environmental groups too.

If there can be lounge chairs in the middle of Times Square, there can be fashion-forward trash bins, right?

xo,

F

Change has come to America…and the CFDA Awards.

For the first time ever the Council of Fashion Designers of America is giving out a Popular Vote Award, so make your voice heard by heading here to cast your vote for the Mulleavys or Zac or Marc or another designer of your liking.

As a bonus, every time you vote, you’ll be entered to win a trip to a show during fashion week in September…just in case you don’t usually attend.

Get out there and vote, people. Or else you can’t complain about who wins.

—AMANDA JEAN BOYLE

Trovata sued Forever 21 two years ago - the mega-store’s 50th lawsuit in three years - and finally heads to court next month according to WWD.

The California based brand targeted seven styles of shirts directly copied from their runway including a striped cardigan with multi-colored buttons, a white ruffled blouse and a rainbow striped polo - some of which even boast a replica of Trovata’s actual label on the inside.

They’re suing under trade dress infringement since copyright laws still only protect prints and patterns and the CFDA’s Design Piracy Prohibition Act is stalled, but a Manhattan judge already chastised Forever 21, “We note the extraordinary litigating history of this company, which raises the most serious questions as to whether it is a business that is predicated in large measure on the systematic infringement of competitors’ intellectual property.”

On the one hand, we’re kind of impressed Trovata was even on Forever 21’s radar circa 07 but on the other, we hope they kick their ass.

Obedient Sons and Daughters are no longer.

The line, designed by husband and wife team Swaim and Christina Hutson, turned out to have a not so stable financial backer in the form of Green Day’s bassist.

So despite their critical acclaim, a combination of downtown plus starlet loyalty, and last year’s CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund nomination, they won’t be presenting a Fall 09 collection, or any collection under the Obedient label for that matter.

They will, however, present an entirely new line on February 14th (known to some as Valentine’s day, but to us as the second day of what’s sure to be a very unusual Fashion Week). We won’t know what it’s called until we get our invitation but we can guess it’ll be sharply tailored and highly covetable.

Can everyone else just hang on for one more month? Please!