Shown above, this was the scene at Rockefeller Center during a NY Fashion Week party toasting the six finalists for GQ Magazine's 2nd Annual Best New Menswear Designers in America. The group of finalists for this CFDA endorsed honor was rock solid. But we're thrilled to see Robert Geller take home a $50,000 cash prize as the official, rising star. He'll also design a limited-edition collection for Levi's, due to hit Levi.com just in time for the next New York Fashion Week in September, '09.
Thom Browne (men's wear designer), Steve Evans (Levi's, VP of Merchandising) Kevin Harter (Bloomingdale's, VP of fashion direction), Steven Kolb (CFDA, executive director), Jim Moore (GQ, creative director); and Jim Nelson (GQ, editor-in-chief) comprised the selection committee. The full group of nominees, pictured below, included (left to right) Andre Benjamin for Benjamin Bixby; David Mullen for Save Khaki; Alex Carleton for Rogues Gallery; Robert Geller for Robert Geller; Jeff Halmos and Sam Shipley for Shipley & Halmos; and Yigal Azrouel for Yigal Azrouel. So, is it possible that Geller, rather than Alexandre Plokhov, turned out to be the real star to emerge from Cloak? Yeah, Duh.