Edgardo Osorio of Aquazzura was named Designer of the Year with an introduction from Nina Garcia.
Give A$AP Rocky a microphone, and he’ll bring the house down. At least, that’s what happened last night at the Footwear News Achievement Awards (FNAAs), which took place at Cipriani South Street in New York City. The rapper, who took home the Collaboration of the Year award for his work with Puma, spoke about the iconic partnership at the podium. “I thought there was something missing in the market—and it was me,” he began. “All of these years, all of the influence, all of you other brands who still don’t pay me yet, I influenced your whole shit. Your whole catalog, talk about it,” he continued, to a cacophony of laughs from the crowd, before adding: “All jokes aside, I wouldn’t be shit without everybody in the team involved.”
Rihanna, who shares two children, RZA and Riot, with Rocky, received a shout-out from her boyfriend, too, before he invited her and the entire Puma team to join him onstage. “This is one of the best accomplishments ever,” he said in his speech. “I was inspired when my lady received this thing almost a decade ago. Her doing that, she inspires me a lot.”
Now in its 38th year, the FNAAs honor footwear’s biggest players. Donna Karan presented Kenneth Cole with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and the recipient called out Rocky in his remarks, saying that he did in fact prepare a speech, unlike the rapper, which received hollers from his table. Martha Stewart scooped up the Icon Award, which was presented by Snoop Dogg via a pretaped messaged from the set of The Voice, and Edgardo Osorio of Aquazurra won Designer of the Year, with an introduction from ELLE’s own editor-in-chief Nina Garcia.
Osorio followed Garcia’s remarks with a moving tribute to his brand and the footwear industry as a whole: “My purpose is to spread happiness and good energy through everything I do, and that drives me every day,” he said. “If we all work with purpose, the world will be a more beautiful and meaningful place. We might just be creating shoes, but we can make someone smile one step at a time.”
Other honorees included Bjørn Gulden of Adidas (Person of the Year), New Balance (Company of the Year), JD Sports (Retailer of the Year), Larroudé (Brand of the Year), On (Brand of the Year), Angel Reese (Style Influencer of the Year), Sneex (Launch of the Year), Philéo Landowski (Emerging Talent Award), and Skechers (Icon Award for Social Impact). Susan Itzkowitz, Dave Powers, and Tacey Powers, were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Brooke Burke and Billie Jean King were among the other presenters.
