23 Jan How are ISIS Fashion Awards Organized?

The ISIS Fashion Awards, also known as the ISIS Awards, are a prestigious annual event honoring the best in international fashion. As one of the most coveted awards in the industry, the ISIS Awards recognize excellence and innovation across all areas of fashion design, including haute couture, ready-to-wear, accessories, modeling, and more.

The ISIS Awards are highly competitive, with designers and brands vying to take home the coveted statuettes. Winning an ISIS Award can propel a designer to stardom and bring worldwide recognition. The awards ceremony itself is a dazzling affair, with A-list stars walking the red carpet in glamorous gowns and celebrities presenting the awards.

But how exactly are the ISIS Fashion Awards organized behind the scenes? What does it take to put on this star-studded event each year? Here’s an in-depth look at how the ISIS Awards come together.

The ISIS Academy

The ISIS Fashion Awards are organized annually by the ISIS Academy, a non-profit organization founded in 1973 to promote excellence in international fashion. The Academy is led by a Board of Directors consisting of 20 distinguished members of the fashion industry. They provide strategic oversight for the ISIS Awards and all other Academy initiatives.

The Academy has full-time administrative staff based in Paris who handle day-to-day operations, including coordinating the awards process. Heading up the team is the Academy’s Secretary General, who works closely with the Board to carry out their vision.

The Selection Process

The process of selecting each year’s ISIS Award nominees and winners is complex and highly confidential. It all starts when the ISIS Academy sends out calls for submissions to fashion professionals around the world. Designers and brands can submit their work for consideration across all award categories.

After the submission period closes, the selection process begins. The Secretary General oversees this process with input from the Board of Directors. First, a Nominating Committee carefully reviews every submission and narrows them down to a shortlist of nominees in each category.

Next, the nominees are evaluated by a prestigious Judging Committee made up of about 100 fashion experts from around the world. Members of the Judging Committee are selected by the Board and serve anonymously, their identities kept secret even from one another. This clandestine approach minimizes outside influence and maintains the integrity of the judging process.

Over the course of several weeks, the Judging Committee thoroughly evaluates each nominee based on criteria like creativity, craftsmanship, innovation, and commercial success. They cast their votes through a secure online platform. The nominees who receive the most votes in their category become the ISIS Award winners.

Award Categories

The ISIS Awards recognize stellar achievements across a diverse range of fashion design categories. The categories are periodically reviewed by the Board and may change slightly from year to year as fashion evolves. But most of the prominent award categories remain consistent.

Some of the key ISIS Awards presented each year include:

• Haute Couture Designer of the Year: Honors the most influential haute couture designer.
• Ready-to-Wear Designer of the Year: Awarded to the ready-to-wear designer who demonstrated exceptional talent and vision.
• Fashion House of the Year: Presented to the fashion house with the most outstanding collections and overall contributions to fashion.
• Breakthrough Designer of the Year: Recognizes an emerging design talent who made a strong industry debut.
• Model of the Year: Honors the most influential fashion model of the year.
• Fashion Photographer of the Year: Awarded to the photographer who created the most impactful fashion photography.
• Fashion Stylist of the Year: Presented to the most creative and influential fashion stylist.
• Fashion Icon Award: A special honor bestowed upon a living legend who has made remarkable long-standing contributions to the industry.

There are also awards for exceptional work across accessory design, fragrance, advertising campaigns, fashion journalism, and more.

The Awards Ceremony

The glamorous ISIS Awards ceremony is the culminating event where the winners are revealed and honored through star-studded presentations and celebrations. The ceremony usually takes place in late spring and is hosted in a major fashion capital like Paris, Milan, or New York.

The Secretary General works with the Board of Directors to carefully plan every detail of the ceremony to ensure a magical experience fitting of the ISIS Awards’ prestige. One of their most important decisions is choosing the host city and venue. Recent ceremonies have been held at venues like the Château de Versailles near Paris and La Scala opera house in Milan.

Producing a smooth awards show is a monumental task. The Academy hires specialized production crews to handle lighting, sound, video, and all technical aspects. A creative team sources luxurious red carpet decor, stunning stage designs, and glitzy after-party spaces.

Celebrity talent is recruited to present awards and entertain the A-list audience. Recent ISIS Awards ceremonies featured hosts like supermodels Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks. Kim Kardashian, Pharrell Williams, and Anna Wintour have presented awards. Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Bruno Mars have given dazzling performances.

No detail is overlooked when it comes to the fashion! A top wardrobe stylist carefully curates gorgeous custom looks for the host and presenters. Luxury brands design stunning gowns and jewelry for celebrity guests to don on the red carpet.

When the big night finally arrive?

It’s a full day of intense preparations. The venue is abuzz as final touches are put in place, from lighting to floral arrangements to seating placements. Models, performers, and presenters go through hair, makeup, and rehearsals. Security is tight, with staff checking credentials and ushering celebrities along red-carpet arrival routes.

Once the ceremony begins, the magic truly comes alive. Spotlights illuminate the glossy runway where models display the work of nominated designers. Presenters take the stage amid striking visuals to announce honorees. Winning names are met with thunderous applause, shouts of joy, and plenty of happy tears. The audience is filled with the biggest stars in fashion, coming together to celebrate creativity and community.

The night wraps up with an exclusive after-party where the champagne flows freely. For a few glorious hours, all the hard work to make the ISIS Awards happen fades away as the fashion elite drink, dance, and toast their peers’ incredible achievements.

The Impact of Winning

For designers, winning an ISIS Award represents the ultimate validation from the top minds in fashion. It immediately increases their name recognition and brand value worldwide. An ISIS Award win often results in lucrative business deals, partnerships with luxury retailers, higher asking prices, and surging demand.

The benefits continue to ripple out for years after the win. ISIS Award recipients become part of an elite circle, opening doors to work with A-list celebrities on custom designs for red carpets and galas. Fashion journalists closely follow ISIS winners, providing ongoing media buzz. Brands leverage the prestigious accolade in all their marketing and communications.

For already prominent designers, winning an ISIS Award cements their position at the pinnacle of the industry. Up-and-coming designers may gain investor funding, enabling them to reach new levels of success. An ISIS Award serves as a career-altering launching pad.

Ultimately, the universal respect commanded by ISIS Awards allows winners to shape the future of fashion with their enduring influence. The Award is a career achievement most in the industry only dream of one day reaching.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are the ISIS Award nominees determined?

Nominees are selected by a secret Nominating Committee appointed by the ISIS Academy’s Board of Directors. This committee reviews all award submissions and votes to narrow them down to five nominees in each category based on criteria like innovation, creativity, and impact.

What happens if there is a tie between nominees?

In the rare instance of a tie during nominations, the full ISIS Academy Board will convene privately to review the tied nominees and cast deciding votes to break the tie. Their choice remains confidential even to the Nominating Committee.

Who is allowed to submit work for ISIS Award consideration?

Designers and fashion brands from anywhere in the world are permitted to submit their recent collections and designs for any relevant ISIS Award category. Submissions are accepted annually online or by mail when the Academy announces the opening of submissions.

How are the ISIS Award winners chosen?

After nominees are selected, a top-secret Judging Committee of around 100 fashion experts anonymously casts votes for the nominee they feel is most deserving in each category. The nominee with the most votes wins the ISIS Award.

What happens if a fashion house or designer declines an ISIS Award nomination?

Declining a nomination is extremely rare, but if it does happen, the ISIS Academy will reconvene appropriate committees to select a replacement nominee to be judged fairly against other nominees.

How are ISIS Awards physically produced each year?

The ISIS Academy oversees every detail, but hires specialized production crews to handle lighting, audio, video and all staging and technical aspects. No effort or expense is spared to ensure a magical awards ceremony befitting the significance of the ISIS Awards.

Conclusion

Organizing the annual ISIS Fashion Awards takes months of intense behind-the-scenes preparation by the ISIS Academy and secret committees devoted to maintaining highly qualitative processes. Their efforts result in an acclaimed ceremony where the pinnacle of fashion talent is recognized through statuettes conveying enormous industry prestige.

Winning an ISIS Award is a career-changing experience that boosts designers’ success exponentially, making the event a pivotal highlight of the international fashion calendar each year. The glamorous ceremony allows the industry’s brightest stars to come together to celebrate creativity and excellence in fashion design.