NEW YORK (TIP): Indian American fashion designer Naeem Khan is among recipients of 2023 National Design Awards given by the New York-based Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
Born and raised in India, Khan won the award in the fashion design category for creating “clothing that embodies beauty, glamour, and femininity while purposefully evolving his vision in the world of fashion.”
The National Design Awards honor innovation and impact and recognize the power of design to change the world.
Established in 2000 as a project of the White House Millennium Council, the National Design Awards bring national recognition to the ways in which design enriches everyday life.
Born and raised in India surrounded by the beauty of its culture, architecture, history, and design, Naeem Khan launched his eponymous collection in 2003, according to the citation.
“These influences helped cultivate his vast knowledge of textiles. Khan is known for the exquisite hand-embroidery in his work, crafted by artisans in his family-owned factory founded by his grandfather decades ago.”
“As a teenager, Khan moved to the United States and apprenticed for Halston, where he absorbed the ethos of modernism, and the secrets of draping and cutting fabric to create clean, elegant, and timeless silhouettes,” it noted.
“Today, his focus is to create clothing that embodies beauty, glamour, and femininity while purposefully evolving his vision in the world of fashion. A key element to Khan’s work is keeping the tradition and craft of making clothes by hand,” the citation added. Khan’s collections have adorned glamorous women around the world, including Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Taylor Swift, Rachel McAdams, former First Lady Michelle Obama, Queen Noor of Jordan, and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, among others.
He launched the Naeem Khan Bridal collection in 2013. He was inducted as a member of the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2008.
Today the Naeem Khan Ready-to-Wear and Bridal collections are sold at more than 150 retail outlets across the world.
National Design Award winners are selected by a multidisciplinary jury of design practitioners, educators, and leaders. The jury met at Cooper Hewitt to select this year’s winners.
Nominations are open to all and are also solicited from experts from a wide range of design and related fields. Jurors join from diverse locations to review submissions, resulting in a final selection of 10 category awardees.