Coty Award

The Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards (awarded 1943-1984) were first announced in January 1942 by the cosmetics and perfume company Coty, Inc. to promote and celebrate American fashion, and encourage design during the Second World War. The first awards were presented in January 1943, with Norman Norell winning the award. The program was developed by the publicist and champion of American fashion, Eleanor Lambert with the assistance of the Mayor of New York, Fiorello H. La Guardia. The awards were given solely to designers based in America, unlike the Neiman Marcus Fashion Awards. Up until its discontinuation in 1985, the Coty Award was considered one of the most prestigious awards in the field of fashion. The womenswear awards are popularly known as Winnies; the menswear award which began in 1968 has no name. Repeat awards were the Return Award and the Hall of Fame award. Special Awards were also awarded to designers in specialist fields.

In 1985, Donald Flannery, the senior vice-president of Pfizer, Inc., Coty's parent company, announced that the Coty Awards would not be continued after that year. Through their promotion of American fashion design and designers, the awards had successfully brought America into the worldwide fashion scene. This had been the primary reason for the Coty Awards' creation, so it was decided to discontinue the awards as their work was complete.