After decades of daring, captivating flair, Erykah Badu has finally received the coveted recognition she deserves.
The “On and On” singer received the 2024 Council of Fashion Designers of America Fashion Icon Award on October 28, 2024. The award show, which was hosted by actress Cynthia Ervio and presented by Amazon Fashion, was held at the American Museum of National History in Manhattan.
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Introducing the “Window Seat” musician to receive the coveted prize, André 3000—with whom Badu has a 26-year-old kid named Seven—used a warning cone as a prop to represent Badu’s delightfully deadly attire.
Molly Ringwald, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Anna Wintour, and Marc Jacobs were among the guests who presented the event. Among the well-known attendees were Addison Rae, Kylie Jenner, Lucy Liu, Vera Wang, Katie Holmes, Blake Lively, Tyla, JT, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, LaLa, Winnie Harlow, and Teyana Taylor.
In the 1990s, Badu’s Grammy Award-winning debut album, Baduizm, helped shape the neo-soul music genre, which is a blend of classic jazz, modernist blues, and funky hip-hop with Black diaspora themes. The artist’s statement that obtaining this prestigious honor has been a lifelong goal highlights the artist’s distinctive stance on fashion.
Whether it was in music videos, award shows, or as a guest on popular platforms, Badu’s appearances had to be showcased without apology at this pivotal period of her career. Bright colors, bold maxi dresses, and Badu’s most distinctive and distinguishing piece—her headwraps—are some of the key components of her vibrant Afrocentric appeal, which goes beyond imitation of Afrocentric fashion. Instead, it represented her theoretical view of the Black woman as the mother of civilization, the bearer and recipient of life, the nurturer and corresponding monarch, who, to protect herself, covers her head with a powerful robe.
This is a result of Badu’s previous exposure to the Five Percent Nation of Gods and Earth’s school of thinking. The idea is reflected in the cultural head coverings worn by the nation’s women, referred to as Earths.
With her Afrocentric appeal, Badu has subsequently moved beyond her headwrap era and adopted a variety of horizontal fashion trends, including patchwork cloth, towering hats, glittering headdresses, huge jewelry, and more.
Badu attended the CFDA event wearing an outfit designed by American fashion designer Thom Browne. It is an “all-in-one Chesterfield, sportcoat, cardigan, and trousers in a combination of cashmere, mohair wool flannel, and silk faille over a hobble skirt in mohair,” according to the designer.
When the esteemed CFDA Fashion Icon Award was first presented in 2010, supermodel Iman received the inaugural prize. Pharrell Williams, Serena Williams, Zendaya, Lenny Kravitz, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Rhianna, Naomi Campbell, and others are among the notable awardees from a variety of pop culture industries.
With designers Rachel Scott, Willy Chavarria, and Raul Lopez winning major design awards, the 2024 CFDA Awards provided a comprehensive overview of the current fashion scene. Stephen Burrows and the late Isabel Toledo were honored alongside up-and-coming artists like Henry Zankov. Michael Kors was honored as a force for good, while Anne Leibovitz’s media work and Daniel Roseberry’s global influence with Schiaparelli were also praised.
