Dallas Gala Honors Fashion Magic Of NYFW Creator Fern Mallis & House Of Cardin

Fashion fairytales may serve up pixie dust and futuristic fantasies on the runway, but their actual magic comes from hard work, ingenuity, and a dash of “being in the right place at the right time.” This couldn’t be more true than for the icons celebrated at The Fashion Group International of Dallas’ annual gala.

[SEE ALSO: Fashion Icon Misa Hylton Named ‘2022 Fashion Innovator Of The Year’ At EMERGE! Fashion Runway Show]

“Night Of Stars” brought together the city’s most fashionable entrepreneurs, influencers, and changemakers at the Dallas Thompson Hotel to honor New York Fashion Week creator Fern Mallis, House Of Cardin, and Dallas-based designer Levi Palmer of palmer//harding.

The sold-out crowd received front-row access to the thinking behind their magic and method while also raising scholarship funds to support the next generation of fashion innovation. 

Father of Fashion Branding

After treating attendees to a rare Pierre Cardin retrospective runway presentation, Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin shared a pivotal moment that shaped his late uncle’s fashion house. 

Known as the “father of fashion branding,” Pierre Cardin was inspired to license his brand after receiving an overwhelming order request.

“It was thanks to a Texan who came to his first professional show in Paris,” revealed Basilicati-Cardin while accepting the “Lifetime Achievement In Fashion” award. “He wanted 200,000 pieces. My uncle said ‘okay,’ but he has just five workers.”

So, Cardin offered to make 200 of the coat (pictured above) and have his team teach the buyer how to make the rest of them, using the Pierre Cardin name. In exchange, the buyer would give 3% of sales. “That was the new idea,” said Basilicati-Cardin of Cardin becoming the first designer to sell clothes in department stores and lend a brand’s name to perfumes and accessories.  “[A] few years after, everybody did the same.”

Basilicati-Cardin, who was first appointed CEO by Cardin in 2018 and became president in 2020 after his passing, looks to continue the brand’s legacy.  He explained that he used to work alongside Cardin and still has three men on the team “who worked 30 years around my uncle, shoulder to shoulder.”

Godmother Of Fashion

Mallis has also established mainstays within the fashion industry. Known as the “godmother of fashion,” she received the “Icon of Innovation” award for creating New York Fashion Week and her groundbreaking “Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis” interview series.

Mallis launched the conversation series in 2011 after leaving the tented runways in NYC’s Bryant Park.  

“I had no idea what I would do next,” she said while accepting her award. “I entered what I called the ‘coffee phase’ of my life. People started calling me: “Can I take you out for a cup of coffee? I have an idea.’ ‘I have a new startup, can I meet you for a cup of coffee?’ Nobody wanted to buy me lunch or dinner,” she joked. 

But, she added, “it was over a cup of tea” that her own idea came to fruition. 

“Most people think creating New York Fashion Week and leading the [Council of Fashion Designers of America] through its biggest years of growth are my greatest contributions to fashion,” said Mallis. “It was major, but I believe my ‘Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis’ series is the most important legacy I will leave behind.”

Since launching, she has shared the stage and conversations with 61 of the industry’s top designers, editors, models, and photographers, including André Leon Talley, Oscar De La Renta, Tom Ford, Billy Porter, Calvin Klein, Donna Karen, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, and her first guest, Norma Kamali.

“My conversations tell that these fashion icons are so much more than just a name on a label,” said Mallis. “We tackled the real issues challenging their industry, like supporting diversity, size inclusivity, sustainability, mental health, and LGBTQ issues.”

The fashion powerhouse has also released two volumes chronicling her series, “Fashion Lives: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis” and “Fashion Icons 2: Fashion Lives with Fern Mallis,” which are now part of the U.S. Library of Congress permanent collection and available exclusively at Nordstrom. 

“I could not have dreamed of a more fulfilling next chapter in my life.”