Fern Mallis—the award-winning creator of New York Fashion Week—has been hailed as an industry titan, a fashion doyenne, and often referred to as the “Godmother of Fashion.” After two decades of influential leadership at the CFDA and IMG Fashion, she now helms her own international consulting firm as President.

For the past 15 years, Mallis has been the esteemed host of the acclaimed and sold-out conversation series “Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis” at 92NY. She is also the author of a book series chronicling these conversations, published by Rizzoli and sponsored by Nordstrom.

A passionate advocate for emerging talent, Mallis has advised multiple regional fashion weeks, including Nashville, Charleston, and Philly Fashion Week. Most recently, as part of her lifelong dedication to nurturing the next generation of fashion innovators, she has taken 8-year-old designer and internet personality Max Alexander under her wing, providing him with valuable mentorship and industry guidance.

Mallis has received numerous prestigious accolades, including the 2013 Fashion Industry Lifetime Achievement Award from Pratt Institute (presented by Calvin Klein), the 2013 FIT President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2022 Icon of Innovation Award from Fashion Group International. In 2014, she was inducted into Business of Fashion’s BoF 500 Hall of Fame and currently serves on the board of the FIT Foundation. Recently, she has been recognized with the “Legend in the Fight Against AIDS” Award from DIFFA Dallas, named one of the “25 Most Inspirational Women for 2024”, honored with the ACE Hall of Fame Award (presented by Tamron Hall), Giving the Glam’s “Making the Difference” Award, Delivering Good’s “Impact Speaker” Award, the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research “Fashion Cares” Award and FGI’s Founders Award (presented by Stephanie Ruhle).