The Accessories Council hosted the 2025 ACE Awards at the Pierre Hotel in New York City on Tuesday, gathering the accessories community to celebrate the industry with a range of recognitions, from honoring Betsey Johnson with the inaugural Iconoclast Award to inducting diversity and inclusivity trailblazer Bethann Hardison into the Hall of Fame.
Laverne Cox, Betsey Johnson at the ACE Awards held at Pierre Hotel NY on May 6, 2025 in New York.
Stephanie Augello/Variety
Laverne Cox was on hand to present Johnson with the Iconoclast Award, offering a rousing speech during which baskets of the designer’s baguette purses were passed out.
“For decades, Betsey has created clothes that don’t whisper — they twirl, they shout, they cartwheel. And in doing so, she gave so many of us permission to take up space. To be loud, to be joyful,” Cox said. “Long before fashion caught up to queerness, Betsey had already built a runway for it. She understood what it meant to stand outside the lines and turn that feeling into something sacred.”
Cox, sporting a Betsey Johnson ensemble featuring a functional bedazzled phone purse from the brand, told WWD on the red carpet that she is inspired by the designer’s sense of whimsy. “I grew up studying classical ballet, and so I grew up loving tutus and just being obsessed with them,” she said. “And when I started dressing myself and going to thrift stores, I was rocking a lot of tutus, and then I discovered Betsey and that’s a staple in her oeuvre. And the sense of whimsy and color and just being unconventional and not following trends, just knowing who you are.”
Bethann Hardison at the ACE Awards held at Pierre Hotel NY on May 6, 2025 in New York.
Stephanie Augello/Variety
Hardison, known as a trailblazing…