Andre Walker’s 40 Years Defining Fashion with Bold Creativity and Vision

Andre Walker, the recipient of the 2025 CFDA Isabel Toledo Board of Directors’ Tribute may not be the most recognizable name in fashion today, but the award-winning designer‘s contributions to the industry are deserving of the honor.

Walker first garnered Women’s Wear Daily’s (WWD) attention in 1985, as one to watch in its “Fashion Watch” column, following his debut collection. The publication dubbed the 20-year-old the “East Village boy wonder,” comparing his innovative cutting techniques to the those of Charles James and likening his otherworldly shapes — reflective of the 1980s artistic approach to fashion — to the groundbreaking designs of Vivienne Westwood. Early supporters included Patricia Field of her namesake boutique who championed his work, as well as influential retailers Henri Bendel and Neiman Marcus.

The wider fashion industry followed. In 1989, Walker landed his first design lead position with WilliWear, the iconic brand founded by Willi Smith. His tenure, though a short seven months, bore lessons he took to Paris in 1990s, where he would forge a 40-year global conversation with fashion in small, curated collections, collected by a devoted following of fans.

By the 2000s, Walker’s influence would be quietly embedded in collections for Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton and Kim Jones. His also worked with Comme des Garçons on the 2014 relaunch of its “And Re” collection, the “Foundations capsule collection with Virgil Abloh’s Off-White label in 2017, and with Pendelton-USA he produced 21-piece archival inspired collection in 2018, shown on the steps of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Pieces from that collection would later be included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s 2021 exhibition “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.

Walker was also featured in “WWD Black In Fashion: 100 Years of Style, Influence & Culture,” 2024.