On Sunday, The Daily Front Row hosted the 5th annual Fashion Los Angeles Awards, honoring the biggest names in the industry. Many of the presenters and honorees are incredibly close, which made for some beautifully heartfelt speeches — and some hilarious jokes from host Celeste Barber. Click here to watch a highlight reel, and read some of the best quotes below.
Celeste Barber on comedy:
You might know me from my Instagram account, where I parody photos of really beautiful, rich, and famous people. Photos of you, essentially. I don’t want you to be mean to me or anything. It’s all in good humor. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Barber on body positivity:
The fashion industry is getting really brave now, and I’m really pumped for it. [It’s] all about inclusive bodies and body positivity. It’s really good to see. We’re seeing it on runways, and we’re also starting to see it on some covers of magazines. It’s great. All about body positivity, which I am mad for. And I just hope it sticks around. I worry that it’s going to be a passing fad, like celery juice, or Tamagotchis, or Jordyn Woods.
Celeste Barber (Getty Images)
Jennifer Meyer on her favorite memory of Kate Hudson:
We went to this school called Crossroads, and there was an alleyway [near the school]. I remember Kate one day walking down the alley and she’s in this little dress, and I’m like, “What’s happening?” All we wanted to do at that time was dress like Courtney Love, we thought we were all in Hole. Kate sort of started that era at school. She was wearing this tiny little slip dress that was completely see-through. All of us had backpacks and big tee shirts and looked crazy, and I’m like what’s happening, and she says,” I was just suspended and asked to go home.” I’m like,”What happened?” She’s like, “My dress is too short and see-through. How rude is that?” Kate was always ahead of her time, always in something cute.
Kate Hudson on entrepreneurship:
We live in a world right now where everyone’s hustling for something, we all want to make something because we want to be up here. If I was to give anything back about my experience in this, is that authenticity is everything. If you believe in something, believe in yourself — that’s the most rewarding part. Whether is becomes the most successful business, or just a business that makes you happy. Authenticity, that’s where it all comes from.
Kate Hudson (Getty Images)
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley on meeting Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia:
I was so inspired by their debut collection [for Monse]. It was so different than anything I’d seen before. I wound up staying hours, trying absolutely everything on. Fast forward a few months to the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Luncheon where I had the opportunity to wear my first Monse look. A deconstructed, off-the-shoulder shirt and very high waisted, tailored pants, despite being newly pregnant. I frankly have never felt cooler. That’s deserving of an award in and of itself.
Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia on finding out Rosie Huntington-Whitely is a fan:
Kim: After our second show Rosie wanted to come see us in our showroom. I was like, “Why is she coming?” I was really nervous. She came with our look one outfit. She bought it on Net-a-Porter, I found out later. I’m grateful that she’s our muse and also a shopper.
Garcia: You never get both!
Katie Grand on meeting Adriana Lima:
One of the first things we did was shoot with Glen Luchford for Harper’s Bazaar US. It was a big deal for me. I had never worked for Bazaar before. Adriana was really cute, and really nice, and really charming. She took her belly button piercing out — it was a big diamond that Lenny Kravitz had given to her. We were all really impressed. She wrapped it in some tissue paper and we were like, “Yeah, we’ll definitely take care of it”. And we threw it away. Thank god there she was, being gorgeous, charming, fine, looking through the rubbish with us. Thank god we found the diamond.
Adriana Lima (Getty Images)
Adriana Lima on her friendship with Katie Grand:
There were times I struggled in my work where I did not feel confident enough, beautiful enough and Katie still chose me to do a campaign… I told her, “You don’t know what this means to me right now. I was losing my confidence and you just gave it back to me thank you.” This woman is so talented. She has a wonderful heart, truly.
Russell James on what it’s like to be Candice Swanepoel’s friend:
You have to give up some pretty heavy values as far as honesty. Because honesty goes right out the window once you know Candy. When Candy calls and says,”Russ could you possibly present an award to me? Are you doing anything? I don’t want to inconvenience you” The only answer that you have, even though you may be on pre-op for dental surgery in Australia, is, “Nope, not doing anything. [I’ll] be there.”
James on what Swanepoel is like:
I refer to Candice as the world’s most expensive hippie. Her gentle nature and good intention are visible through the many causes that you really get behind, Candice. We really notice that. A lot of people have their fame and haven’t put it to good use, I really see what you’re out there doing.
Candice Swanepoel (Getty Images)
Candice Swanepoel on her the success of her swimsuit line, Tropic of C:
I started it to have a creative outlet where I could be free, where nobody could tell me what to do. It’s incredible that in one year we’ve grown so much. I want to thank my team, who’ve been amazing. I started it in one of the most busy, almost tumultuous moments of my life, so I want to say thank you to you guys for putting up with me… I was doing fittings pregnant with a baby on one hip through Skype, you really pulled it together.
Courtney Love on meeting Katie Grand for the first time:
She got me naked. It was a long time ago, it was in 2000, and she has that effect on a lot of people. Once for Pop Magazine, Katie had these gorgeous pieces from Galliano, Dior for me, but they were all sample size, so we ditched clothing and I stripped off for the shoot. And these images turned out to be amazing “I don’t ever need to get naked again” pictures. Frankly, I don’t have to show my boobs because Katie did such a good job with them.
Katie Grand on how Courtney Love has inspired her:
We named LOVE Magazine after her. It was an old cover and we put “LOVE” across the top and we were like, “We’ve got to call it LOVE”.
Katie Grand (Getty Images)
Malika Haqq on the success of PrettyLittleThing:
I can honestly say this is a very proud moment for Umar [Kamani, founder and CEO] especially after everything they’ve accomplished in the past six years. Umar’s dedication and passion are a testament to the spirit of PrettyLittleThing. A brand that started with only 20 accessories on it’s website is now one of the biggest and most inclusive fashion websites in the world.
James Marsden on Ilaria Urbinati’s impressive roster:
I am here tonight because two of Ilaria’s other clients, some guy named Rami [Malek] and some guy named Bradley [Cooper] have hit their award show quota for the season. So you get me!
Marsden on how Urbinati changed his style:
She was not impolite; she was direct. She wasn’t cold; she was bold. She’s a woman who has impeccable taste and she knows exactly what she wants and she’s not afraid to tell you that. That’s exactly what I needed in my life. I needed someone to just come and say, “Put this on.” Ilaria is the fashion equivalent of ordering a Trust Me at Sugarfish. “Stop talking you dumb actor, just put it on.” So I did and continued to, and it was a couple of weeks later and I was getting some GQ best dressed list award that I didn’t know existed.
James Marsden and Ilaria Urbinati (Getty Images)
Ilaria Urbinati on her career:
It’s a funny time to be a stylist. When I started out, no one really knew what a red carpet stylist was. I remember I worked in retail and the only stylist I knew dressed like the Rolling Stones. Everybody dressed themselves, it was a free for all. Then the Rachel Zoe reality show changed everything.
Urbinati on the best part of her job:
If I’m really into something I get to turn it into something creative as my job. If I’m into the ’70s, I get to put Donald Glover into all these cool ’70s looks for his Star Wars press tour. I got into racing cars, and I got to do a collaboration with Porsche. I’m a Patriots fan and I got to work with NFL. Just all these kind of fun projects, where I get to take all these nerdy things I’m into and turn it into something creative… It’s mind boggling to get to work with Gucci on a suit and I get to tell them what I want and they make it for me.
Valérie Messika on what drives her:
When I launched my jewelry line 13 years ago, I wanted to break the codes in this industry that I respected so much, but I found it to be a bit too traditional. My real inspiration was, and still is, the fashion. Because fashion is an attitude. Fashion is a state of mind… confidence.
Lady Gaga on Frederic Aspiras:
Even saying his full name, as the rockstar artist he has become, I find myself thinking, no. He’s not just in my eyes the greatest hair artist in the world. He’s the brother I never had, and I call him Freddie.
Lady Gaga (Getty Images)
Gaga on how Frederic Aspiras had the idea to make her yellow wig:
I was sitting in the glam chair, slowly his hands pushed a ripped out page from Italian Vogue with a model who had piss yellow hair. I said Freddie, “What is that!?!” He said, “I know I just was thinking…” and stopped talking, not sure if I wanted to hear his ideas or collaborate with him. I said, “Freddie with this hair style I would look like a Lichtenstein.” He said, “Yes!” I said, “This is Pop Art!” Then he said, “What if we added a root to give it your own edge?” I remember I asked him to make the wig right away and began wearing it in my show immediately.
Gaga on her close relationship with Aspiras:
That man sitting right there has picked me up off the floor and told me I’m strong and can persevere more times than I could ever count. If I was on the floor, he was right there with me, and then he’d pick me up and work his mastery on my hair and say, “Look at yourself. You are strong. You can do this. This is where you belong.” And Freddie, I am here today to tell you this is where you belong.
Frederic Aspiras reacting to Lady Gaga’s heartfelt speech:
I don’t even know where to begin. Thank you Gaga… for ruining my makeup.
Aspiras on how things were when he was growing up:
I grew up with a lot of mental health issues, which is something that is very serious and that I want to talk about because of the person I am and being different. Growing up gay, being Asian, not being able to express yourself… At such a young age and having a gift and a talent and not being able to express yourself because you are being bullied, because you are being beaten up every single day, because you love to do hair and you’re 13 years old and no one cares or calling you names… all it did was just made me feel very lonely in this world.
Frederic Aspiras (Getty Images)
Aspiras on the American dream:
What I want to do is dedicate this award tonight to my mother because my mother can not be here tonight. She’s a hairdresser, she’s an immigrant from Vietnam. She’s a woman, a business owner who saved every single penny to start her own business. I am the American dream… It is to fight hard. It is to work through all of your adversaries. It is to fight, it is to demand, it is to believe in yourself, and I wouldn’t be here tonight without my chosen family, my friends, who are here tonight also. Without them, this could not happen.
Slick Woods on how her life has changed:
Four or five years ago I was sleeping on the bus stop, not too far from here actually. Ashley Stymest found me. He said “Oi!” and I was about to cut him. Who is this man walking up to me? He was like “You want to smoke?” I was like cool, and we smoked. He told me he was a model and I was like, “What’s that?” Then I met Stella, then I met my agent Ali Kavoussi, I really appreciate him. My life changed that day. My whole life changed. It’s kind of crazy going from being homeless to [extravagant] dinners. Coming into adulthood, having a child. Beautiful baby boy. Being able to change his life and he have a different life like all of you guys have.
Sia on why she left her famous wig at home:
This is what my face looks like. The person I’m presenting this award to is my friend, so I wanted to award it to him as my friend and not as a pop star. And also because I thought people might not believe it was me.
Sia (Getty Images)
Sia’s musical tribute to Christian Siriano:
I wrote you a song while I was peeing earlier. It goes like this: Christian you dressed me when I felt like a potato. You dressed me when I was my body shamer. You dressed me even before I was famous. Christian, Christian, Christian. You do your best to make us feel special when not all of us can fit in a sample. It’s you who stands here as an example. You’re faboo, faboo! Christian! Get your ass onstage, oh Christian!
Christian Siriano on the role of the designer:
I knew at a young age that I just wanted to create things for people. I didn’t really think about anything else but that. That’s what I thought a designer was — a job to do. Early on the goal was to make people feel their very best selves. That’s the job.
Siriano on the power of fashion:
No matter what size, age, gender — whatever you are, you should feel fabulous in how you present yourself to the world. That is so important. Fashion should make you feel and we all deserve to feel something special.
Siriano on his accomplishments:
The fashion business can really, really hard and break you down. That’s something I think about a lot, but I know if I was gone tomorrow and the business was over and I stopped doing what I was doing, that I would leave something behind that was more than just clothes. I would get to leave behind knowing that I got to change the perception of what’s beautiful and I got to change someone’s life. That someone may have gotten overlooked, once or twice. But I hope they feel great in their clothes.
Christian Siriano and Sia (Getty Images)
A very special thank you to our incredible partners — Maybelline New York, Moroccanoil, Sunglass Hut, PrettyLittleThing, Fiji, HG Contemporary, Whispering Angel, and Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc — for helping make the Fashion Los Angeles Awards such a success.
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