Erykah Badu celebrated as fashion icon at CFDA Awards after years of pushing boundaries

NEW YORK (AP) — Erykah Badu was bestowed the fashion icon award by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, playfully saying it was an honor she’d been hoping to get most of her life.

Wearing a headdress of jewels and a Thom Browne jacket, Badu accepted the award Monday night in Manhattan, saying she’s been trying to win the icon award since she was 6 years old. Badu described dressing up as a sport, therapy — and her husband.

André 3000 brought out an orange caution cone to the stage as he introduced Badu, who is the mother of his son.

“The world is a private joke between me and my things,” she said. André 3000 took the cone as he walked off with Badu.

The Grammy Award winner has become one of the great fashion disruptors of red carpets over the years, shaking up black tie conformity with her own Afrocentric style of tall hats and headwraps, oversized jewelry and talismans and layers of patchwork fabric adorned with accents that move and make music.

The CFDA Fashion Awards were held at the American Museum of Natural History at a ceremony that attracted celebrities like Katie Holmes and Kylie Jenner, designers and fashion industry giants to honor the best in design. Star of the movie “Wicked” Cynthia Erivo hosted the evening in a hooded gown from Gap designed by Zac Posen.

The final award of the night went to Rachel Scott of Diotima for womenswear designer of the year. Scott was overwhelmed with emotion while accepting her award and thanked her mother and the women who crochet her designs in Jamaica, where she is from.

“I’ve spent so much of my career on design teams so I’m really unaccustomed to this recognition,” she said.

Scott, known for her exquisite knit designs, was awarded the emerging designer of the year award in 2023.

Pop star Troye Sivan presented the menswear designer of the year award to Willy Chavarria, making this his second menswear win. Chavarria said it’s a strange time for him working on his autumn/winter 2025 collection with an upcoming election so close.

“I do know so many people in this room are very concerned about their rights,” he said. “Diversity in humanity makes us much stronger.”

This year, Chavarria was up against Mike Amiri of Amiri, Emily Adams Bode Aujla of Bode, Todd Snyder and Browne for the award.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand opened the night by encouraging the influencers, fashion designers and celebrities dining in the room to tap into their collective influence to motivate their followers to vote: “If we wake up on Wednesday and we don't recognize this country, and we didn’t leave it out on the field, we have no one to blame but ourselves.”

Browne, CFDA chair, also drove home the message of voting: “Fashion like democracy is about choice.”

Actor Molly Gordon and designer Brandon Maxwell presented the award for emerging designer of the year award to Russian-born designer Henry Zankov, known for his colorful knitwear. (Maxwell is a previous emerging designer winner.) Other contenders for the honor were Presley Oldham of Presley Oldham, Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell of Tanner Fletcher, Jackson Wiederhoeft of Wiederhoeft and Connor McKnight.

Celebrity duo Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie teamed up to present the award for accessory designer of the year to Raul Lopez of Luar. Lopez said the win is for everyone like him, who grew up the child of immigrants.

“I’m just a vessel in this industry to guide the kids that come after me to see they can do it to,” he said.

Lopez beat out nominees Ana Khouri, Stuart Vevers for Coach, Catherine Holstein for Khaite and Tory Burch.

Another icon shaking up the fashion industry, Daniel Roseberry of Schiaparelli, was honored as the international designer of the year. Roseberry’s designs have been dominating red carpets with Schiaparelli’s unconventional couture and surrealist pop of gold embellishments. Actor Nicole Kidman stunned at the Venice Film Festival when she walked the carpet in one of Schiaparelli’s couture corseted looks with beaded fringe and a deconstructed neckline.

Roseberry is the first American to lead a French couture company.

Other honors of the night included the Amazon Innovation Award which was awarded to Vevers, famed photographer Annie Leibovitz received the media award and the positive change award went to Michael Kors. Designer Stephen Burrows was honored at the event with the lifetime achievement award. Burrows was one of the five U.S. designers who competed in the 1973 “Battle of Versailles” fashion show.

With her latest award, Badu now joins the ranks of celebrities like Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian and Zendaya who previously took home the “fashion icon” title.

Teyana Taylor attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Rebecca Hall attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Taylor Hill attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Nicky Hilton Rothschild attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Sunisa Lee attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Lucky Blue Smith, left, and Nara Smith attend the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Troye Sivan attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Marc Jacobs attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Kylie Jenner attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Kylie Jenner attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Kylie Jenner attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Laufey attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Lucy Liu attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Carter Gregory, left, and Kylie Jenner attend the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Da'Vine Joy Randolph attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Katie Holmes attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Paris Hilton attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Tyla attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Valentina Ferrer, left, and J Balvin attend the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Tyla attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Wes Gordon, left, and Katie Holmes attend the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

GloRilla attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Teyana Taylor attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Erykah Badu attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Erykah Badu attends the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

When NBC carried the Kentucky Derby for the first time in 2001, the broadcast lasted only 90 minutes.

On Saturday, when it carries the Run for the Roses for the 25th time, 90 minutes wouldn’t be enough for all the feature stories that will run leading up to post time.

NBC Sports will present 12 1/2 hours of coverage across two days on NBC, USA Network and Peacock. There will be five hours for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks on USA Network and Peacock. Saturday’s coverage begins on USA Network at noon ET before moving to NBC at 2:30 p.m. while Peacock will stream all 7 1/2 hours.

“So much has changed since we first started in 2001. At that time, we thought 90 minutes to cover a two-minute race. How are we going to fill all this time? Now we are still trying to figure out how we’re going to get this story in and that story in because there are so many great stories to tell,” said Donna Brothers, the only member of the broadcast team involved with all 25 Derbys on NBC.

NBC has done five hours of coverage on the main network on Derby Day since 2018. Sam Flood, the executive producer and president of NBC Sports Production, said the true evolution behind adding more hours while making the coverage appeal to a cross-section of viewers began after he produced his first Derby in 2006.

“I remember getting done with the show, which I think was two hours. I kept thinking, we can do so much more,” Flood said. “There are so many assets here that should be showcased, and that’s when we started blowing it out, adding more hours and slowly shifting more and more hours on to NBC and off the cable platforms.”

The expansion has also included the Kentucky Oaks. It started airing on Bravo in 2009 before moving to the NBC Sports Network and then USA Network.

The Derby broadcast has evolved into one of the most diverse sports events that NBC does yearly and is on par with the Olympics, which it carries once every two years, and the Super Bowl, which it has once every four years.

It also might be the only place where a viewer can see fashion, recipes from one of the hosts of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” and race predictions from NBC News chief data analyst Steve Kornacki.

Mike Tirico, the host of NBC’s coverage since 2017, said doing the Derby served as good preparation for hosting the Olympics as well as a stint as a guest host on the “Today” show last week.

“My time doing the Derby helped me to do the ‘Today’ show last week, not vice versa,” he said. “This show is so cool. It goes from speed figures to fascinators. It goes from betting to bourbon. We cover it all in the five hours with a great team of people who dive in and take their space and own it. We all build towards the race. The audience does the same.”

Tirico succeeded Tom Hammond as host. Hammond, a University of Kentucky graduate, was a guiding force around NBC’s early coverage and introducing the sport’s most prominent personalities to viewers.

Lindsay Schanzer, the supervising producer of NBC’s coverage, said one of the advantages of having nearly 4 1/2 hours leading up to post time at 6:57 p.m. ET is the chance to focus on the stories of the 20 horses that will line up in the starting gate.

Among the stories planned are the return of trainer Bob Baffert — who served a three-year suspension after Medina Spirit failed a drug test — 89-year-old trainer D. Wayne Lukas and Michael McCarthy, the trainer of prerace favorite Journalism, whose family was displaced from home in Southern California due to the wildfires.

Because of the many different topics in the broadcast, Schanzer has an interesting approach in how she books the coverage with what she calls a colors document, where each element of coverage has its own color.

“I like to look at it from a broad perspective to make sure there’s not too much of one color in one area, and every color is kind of represented across the show so that if you’re watching it, you’re getting a little bit of a taste of everything,” she said. “One color could be a fashion element, one could be Kornacki’s insights, one could be an interview with a horseman. I try to look at it in a holistic way like that.”

The approach has certainly worked. Last year’s broadcast averaged 16.7 million viewers, the largest Derby audience since 1989. That included an average minute audience of 714,000 streaming on Peacock.

Overall, 11 of the past 15 Derbys held in May have averaged at least 15 million.

“We’ve had all kinds of things happen (since 2001), and that’s what’s so unique about the sport, but specifically about the Derby,” said Jon Miller, NBC Sports president of acquisitions and partnerships. “You have 20 horses that come into that gate and long shots that can pull off the upset. You have favorites, you have great ownership stories, and you have legendary trainers. Who knows who is going to surprise this year? But that’s what’s great about it.”

AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing and Derby coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/kentucky-derby

Horses workout at Churchill Downs Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)