2013 CFDA Awards Nominees: Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang and More Fab Designers

Council of Fashion Designers of America announce candidates for their annual honors

Though designers' creations often steal the spotlight on the red carpet, the men and women behind the fabulous frocks usually remain behind the scenes. But the Council of Fashion Designers of America, which announced the nominees for its awards last night, gives everyone from runway giants to costume designers the opportunity to shine with its annual honors. (Think of it as the Oscars of the fashion world!)

"The CFDA Fashion Awards celebrate American design talent and the influence our industry has across the globe," CFDA CEO Steven Colb said in a statement. "This year's nominees and honorees represent the best and most creative talent of the past year as determined by a guild of their peers."

So, who's worthy of being crowned the best according to the council? Well-known designers like Marc Jacobs and Alexander Wang picked up nominations for the womenswear category, while Thom Browne, who generated a lot of buzz back in January when Michelle Obama wore his designs during the inauguration, received a nod in the menswear field. 

While we know honorary awards will go to Vera Wang, who will walk away with the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, and Oscar de la Renta, who will pick up the Founders Award, we'll have to wait until June 3 to find out which designers will win one of the other coveted awards up for grabs—and to see what the fashionable attendees will wear! In the meantime, here's the complete list of nominees: 

International Award: Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci

Media Award: Tim Blanks

Founders Award: Oscar de la Renta

Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award: Vera Wang

Board of Directors' Tribute Award: Costume designer Colleen Atwood

Swarovski Award for Accessory Design
Irene Neuwirth
Jennifer Meyer
Pamela Love

Swarovski Award for Menswear
Tim Coppens
Todd Snyder
Public School's Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne

Swarovski Awards for Womenswear
Suno's Erin Beatty and Max Osterweis
Creatures of the Wind's Shane Gabier and Christopher Peters
Cushnie et Ochs' Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs

Accessory Designer of the Year
Alexander Wang
Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez
Phillip Lim

Menswear Designer of the Year
Michael Bastian
Thom Browne
Duckie Brown's Steven Cox and Daniel Silver

Womenswear Designer of the Year
Marc Jacobs
Alexander Wang
Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez