Honorees

Designers, manufacturers, retailers, influencers, and collaborators all deserve a spotlight of their own! This year we are proud to recognize:

Person of the Year

Chip Bergh
President & CEO, Levi Strauss & Co.

Chip Bergh has been the president and chief executive officer of Levi Strauss & Co (LS&Co) since 2011. During his tenure, the company has experienced a dramatic turnaround marked by outstanding performance, a return to the center of culture and purpose-driven leadership. LS&Co returned to the public markets with a successful IPO in March 2019. Prior to LS&Co, Chip spent 28 years at Procter & Gamble in roles of increasing scope and complexity in brand management, general management and executive leadership. Chip is also chair of the board of HP, Inc (HPQ). In 2019, Chip was named one of the World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine and he has been widely recognized for his statements and actions on issues like gun-violence prevention, climate change and social and racial justice.

Company of the Year

Gap Inc.
Sonia Syngal, CEO, accepting

Sonia Syngal is the Chief Executive Officer of Gap Inc. leading the $16 billion business across all geographies and channels with a team of nearly 130,000 employees.

Most recently, Sonia led Old Navy from $7B to $8B in sales in just three years, expanding its North American presence to more than 1,200 stores, scaling its ecommerce site to the no. 4 largest apparel site in the U.S. and building competitive omni-channel capabilities. Prior to that, she was Executive Vice President of Global Supply Chain and Product Operations, responsible for managing Gap Inc.’s global supply chain and redefining a best-in-class product-to-market model for its portfolio of brands.

Since joining Gap Inc. in 2004, she has served in key leadership and general management roles including Managing Director for the company's Europe business, Senior Vice President for Gap Inc.’s International division and International Outlet division.

Prior to Gap Inc., Sonia had a successful career in Fortune 500 product companies, including 10 years at Sun Microsystems and six years at Ford Motor Co.

Sonia holds a master's degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University. She is a member of the Boys & Girls Club of America’s Board of Governors and serves on The Gap Foundation Board of Trustees.

Eco-Steward of the Year

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Fashion Initiative

'Make Fashion Circular' was launched by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation at Copenhagen Fashion Summit 2017 and brings together leaders from across the fashion industry to work with cities, philanthropists, NGOs, and innovators. The Foundation's Fashion Initiative is leading international efforts to stop waste and pollution by creating a circular economy for the industry, where products are used more, are made to be made again and are made from safe, recycled, or renewable inputs.

Designer of the Year

Prabal Gurung

Prabal Gurung launched his eponymous collection in February 2009 with a philosophy encompassing modern luxury, indelible style and an astute sense of glamour.

Gurung was born in Singapore and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. After beginning his design career in New Delhi, he moved to New York to finish his studies at Parsons The New School for Design. Upon graduating, Gurung spent two years with Cynthia Rowley’s design and production teams. Soon after, he was appointed design director at the iconic Bill Blass, a post he held for five years until launching his own collection, PRABAL GURUNG.

A focus on quality and innovation has placed Gurung at the forefront of American fashion with designs worn by leading ladies including First Lady Michelle Obama and The Duchess of Cambridge, to name a few. Notable accolades include the 2010 Ecco Domani Fashion Fund Award, 2010 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund runner up, USA Network’s Character Approved Award recipient in 2011, named goodwill ambassador of Maiti Nepal, a finalist of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award, recipient of the 2011 CFDA Swarovski Award for Womenswear and was honored in 2015 with the inaugural Creativity Award from The Drawing Center. Gurung was the official 2013 designer collaborator for Target, launched a product collaboration with MAC Cosmetics in 2014, collaborated on a collection with TOMS to support Shikshya Foundation Nepal in 2016, launched a capsule with Lane Bryant in February 2017 and was named the Global Creative Director of Tasaki in September 2017. In November 2019, Gurung was named the first ever Honorary Designer of the National Portrait Gallery Celebration at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, and published his first coffee table book.

Prabal Gurung chooses to manufacture in New York city to uphold standards of quality while supporting the local community. With over 80% of the collection made in New York, Prabal Gurung is committed to sustaining domestic employment and income. The brand recognizes the importance of domestic production, particularly in respect to the quality of the finished product and helps to bring this awareness to an international audience.

Fashion Maverick

ThirdLove
Heidi Zak, Cofounder & CEO, accepting

Heidi Zak is the Co-Founder and CEO of ThirdLove, the third largest online bra and underwear company in America. Zak left her job at Google with the dream of offering a better option, a "ThirdLove" where women don’t have to choose between comfort and beauty. ThirdLove is the only brand to offer half-cup bras and more than 80 bra sizes, and the Company is proud to have donated over $40 million worth of products to women in need.

Zak has been recognized as Fortune's 40 Under 40, EY Entrepreneur of the Year, National Retail Federation's Disruptors, Fast Company’s Most Creative People and Goldman Sachs' 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs. In addition to contributing a weekly column to Inc.com, Zak is committed to advancing more women in tech and is an active angel investor in female-founded companies. She graduated from Duke University and holds an MBA from MIT Sloan. Prior to launching ThirdLove, Zak held a variety of roles at Google, Aeropostale, McKinsey and Bank of America. In her spare time you can find her working out, or chasing after her two kids.

ThirdLove
Ra’el Cohen, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer

Ra’el Cohen is a Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer at ThirdLove. She joined forces with Co-Founders Heidi Zak and David Spector at the very beginning, bringing her extensive experience in bra design to help realize the dream of creating higher quality, better fitting bras, that made women feel confident.  Zak and Cohen spent almost two years perfecting ThirdLove’s signature bra, the 24/7™ Classic T-Shirt Bra. Their big "aha" moment led to ThirdLove’s invention of half-cup sizes. Ra’el is also the creative mind behind the company’s Breast Shape Dictionary and patented Fit Finder® sizing quiz that uses data science to help women find their perfect fit without stepping foot in a store.  Ra’el is driven everyday by her desire to serve ThirdLove customers, designing products that make their lives easier and better.  Ra’el and her team were behind ThirdLove’s first national campaign "To Each Her Own", that featured real women of different ages, shapes, sizes and ethnic backgrounds.  The groundbreaking campaign showed women owning and embracing their scars and imperfections as part of what makes them absolute individuals.

Ra’el’s journey as a fashion designer began in her teens, when she found her mom’s old sewing machine in the family attic in rural Ohio. She later fell in love with the lingerie industry while designing a contemporary line for Target Corp. She first caught the entrepreneurial bug in 2009, launching her own high-end lingerie line, Luv & Honey. Ra’el holds an undergraduate degree in Fashion Design from The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. She lives in Oakland with her husband and their young daughter. When she’s not working, Ra’el is scouring the Bay Area for live music. She estimates she has been to over 1,000 concerts.

ThirdLove
Dave Spector, Co-Founder

Dave Spector is the Co-Founder of ThirdLove, the 3rd largest online bra and underwear company in America. Dave has always been an entrepreneur, starting his first company in college and another during business school. Prior to founding ThirdLove, he focused on consumer internet, e-commerce, and analytics investing as a Partner at Sequoia Capital. One investment, in Stella & Dot, got him particularly interested in female-focused e-commerce. Before Sequoia, Dave was at IBM and Google, where he helped lead Google’s first efforts in commerce with the launch of Google Checkout, Product Search, and Google Analytics. Outside of ThirdLove, he’s an angel investor in two dozen companies and an advisor to others.

Dave has been recognized as: National Retail Federation Disruptors, Goldman Sachs' 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs and EY Entrepreneur of the Year in Northern California. He is also a certified pilot and enthusiastically very unaccomplished as a triathlete. 

Emcee

Segun Oduolowu, From PEOPLE The TV Show!

Segun Oduolowu is a first generation Nigerian American. Proud son of immigrant parents. He’s a Television Host, Entertainment Journalist and Media Personality. Prior to hosting the nationally syndicated Emmy Award winning news magazine tv show The List, he appeared regularly on CNN, NBC’s Access Live and the Today Show. He’s also appeared on FOX’s The Wendy Williams Show, as well as internationally for the BBC, and Deutsch Welle. He was also the co-host of See It/Skip It, the first ever entertainment review show for Rotten Tomatoes and Facebook Watch.  

When the bright lights turn off, Segun is a family man. Spending time changing the diapers of his daughter Ava, and being told “You’re doing it wrong” by his amazing wife Aja. With any remaining free time, he works with young athletes and students. As a former collegiate basketball player at the University of Houston, he adheres to the principle of “Working Smarter Not Harder.”