“This Moment Feels Almost Surreal” : Simon Porte Jacquemus Is Honored by The Couture Council of The Museum at FIT

“I will now sing a song,” Simon Porte Jacquemus joked upon receiving a handheld microphone after accepting the 2024 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion, the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s marquee annual recognition.

The philanthropic luncheon raises funds for the Museum at FIT, which marks itself as New York’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion. Sponsored by Nordstrom for the fifth year at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, proceeds go toward developing museum events, including exhibitions and symposia, which are all free and open to the public.

“I think he realizes more than many designers the incredible importance of emotion and the way we respond to fashion… Narrative and biographical elements are juxtaposed in his work with the aesthetic of color and silhouette,” Dr. Valerie Steele, Museum at FIT director and chief curator, shared. Dr. Joyce F. Brown, President of FIT, Pete Nordstrom, President and Chief Brand Officer of Nordstrom, and Couture Council members Princess Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz and Sarah Wetenhall also spoke words of support for the museum and the 2024 awardee.

“This moment feels almost surreal. At 19, I launched Jacquemus with nothing more than a dream—no resources, no contacts—just a clear vision to redefine fashion, to approach it from a fresh perspective,” Jacquemus explained.

Fifteen years after that fateful moment of inception, the designer and his line have staked a name for themselves in timeless, Mediterranean-forward chic, alongside daring marketing campaigns that grab audiences with delightful vigor. In the vaunted hall, the excitement for the occasion was just as palpable.

Attendees milled about on the first (unofficial) day of New York Fashion Week, many dressed in archival pieces of the brand or in the last renditions of summer finery that will soon be tucked away for the season. Under the lights of the theater and between sips of champagne, it became clear that this was more than just the acceptance of an award, but an indelible stitch added to the designer’s ever-growing legacy.