Neiman Marcus Announces the Return of an Iconic Award — Reimagining a Famous Retail Honor

Past Recipients Include Coco Chanel, Grace Kelly, Christian Dior, and Karl Lagerfeld

By Caitlin Clark // Nov 30, 2022

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Grace Kelly receiving the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award from Stanley Marcus, 1955 - Courtesy of SMU

Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck attributes the tried-and-true tenets of the iconic retailer for ensuring its future, specifically noting physical stores and their knowledgeable (and personable) staffers in aiding its post-pandemic rebound. As the Dallas-based department store continues to re-establish itself, Van Raemdonk is once again looking to the past, unearthing a historic honor (and adding a bit of modern dressing) with today’s announcement of the new NMG Awards platform.

When the NMG Awards are celebrated during Paris Fashion Week in March, Brunello Cucinelli will receive the 2023 Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion, joining more than 100 fashion luminaries — including Oscar de la Renta, Grace Kelly, Karl Lagerfeld, Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and Christian Dior— who have been honored since Carrie Marcus Neiman and Stanley Marcus established the prize in 1938. Carolina Herrera was the last to receive the William King-designed statue in 2016.

neiman marcus nmg award — The 2023 NMG Distinguished Service Award statue, designed by William King in 1961 and cast in Texas by Schaefer Art Bronze Casting.

In addition to the historic honor, the new Distinguished Service award includes a partnership with Neiman Marcus, Brunello Cucinelli’s largest client partner worldwide, according to Vogue Business. In April 2023, a cobranded Cucinelli x Neiman Marcus capsule, the “Icon Collection,” will launch in 10 physical stores and online — a continuation of the “Muse of the West” capsule designed exclusively for Neiman Marcus this fall. The retailer will also conceptualize unique activations with the brand, whose pieces will be labeled “Exclusively Designed for Neiman Marcus.”

The storied fashion prize is joined by a brand new honor within the new NMG Awards platform, the Neiman Marcus Award for Creative Impact in the Field of Fashion, created to highlight and nurture emerging talent.

The return of the Neiman Marcus Awards is notable not just for their illustrious past, but for the prestige they bring. The Texas-based store is the only retailer in the U.S. offering an industry prize of the same caliber as an award from the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) the British Fashion Council, or the LVMH Prize.