Hailed as the award-winning creator of New York Fashion Week, Fern Mallis has been called an industry titan, doyenne, and The Godmother of Fashion. As the creator and host of premiere conversation series Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis at New York’s prestigious 92nd Street Y, Mallis assembled an incredible roster of guests for her now signature in-depth interviews, including Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, Tom Ford, Michael Kors, Diane von Fürstenberg, Polly Mellen, Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, André Leon Talley, Bruce Weber, Bill Cunningham, Valentino, Leonard A. Lauder, Tim Gunn, Victoria Beckham, Rosita and Angela Missoni, Alexander Wang, and Christian Louboutin, to name just a few.
As one of the most photographed women in the industry, Mallis is widely and consistently quoted in the fashion press and broadcast media, especially on the business of fashion. She has been frequently featured on televised fashion and news magazine programs, including Project Runway, America’s Next Top Model, She’s Got the Look,, and The Fashion Show, with Isaac Mizrahi and Kelly Rowland. She was also a consulting producer on the CW network’s reality television series ReModeled.
Mallis is the recipient of a great many industry awards and accolades. She’s received the Fashion Maverick Award from American Apparel and Footwear Association, Woman of the Year Leadership Award from Concern Worldwide, Fashion Legacy Award from the Fashion Chamber of Commerce State of Style Awards, Special Award from the Diversity Affluence Organization, and the Leadership Award from the Fashion Center BID, among others. She was honored by Pratt Institute with their 2012 Fashion Industry Lifetime Achievement Award – presented to her by designer Calvin Klein. In May 2013, she was presented with the rarely bestowed Fashion Institute of Technology President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, delivering the keynote commencement address. She’s been featured in the BoF (Business of Fashion) 500: The People Shaping the Global Fashion Industry, and in 2014 was inducted into the first BoF 500 Hall of Fame.