Architect Peter Marino Named 2026 CFDA Fashion Icon
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, the New York trade group behind the city's main fashion awards, has chosen architect Peter Marino as its 2026 Fashion Icon. WWD reported the selection on 27 October 2026.
The honour goes to a man who designs buildings rather than clothes. Marino founded his New York design firm in 1978, and it has created shops for brands including Armani, Bulgari, Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co. and Zegna. Those shops are where many customers first see a label's look, long before a runway show or a magazine page.
Chanel's flagship on 57th Street in New York is one of his best-known projects. Vogue covered a celebration for the store in January 2019.
Cornelia Guest will present Marino with the award. The ceremony, the 2026 CFDA Fashion Awards presented by Amazon Fashion, takes place on 2 November at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Marino has also built a reputation outside retail. He founded the Peter Marino Art Foundation in Southampton, New York, in 2021. The French Ministry of Culture named him a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2012 and an Officier of the same order in 2017. In 2024 he received the Hadrian Award from the World Monuments Fund, a preservation group that works on historic sites around the world.
For readers who follow the business, the award is a reminder that a fashion label's public image is built in many places. Store design, the rooms where clothes are sold and the buildings around them all carry a brand's identity. The CFDA's choice recognises a career spent on that part of the work.
