Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, one of fashion photography’s best-known duos, were honoured with the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 CFDA Fashion Awards, held on 2 November 2026 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. One of the honorary awards of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), the prize crowned the pair’s joint work spanning nearly forty years. According to the results announcement published by the CFDA, the award was presented to them by their son, Charles Star Matadin.
From the CFDA: Inez and Vinoodh accept their award
The night’s finale was theirs
Hosted by Keke Palmer, the ceremony was the fourth awards night the CFDA has held at the American Museum of Natural History. According to 10 Magazine, the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award was presented as the final award of the evening. On the same night, the womenswear designer of the year award went to Diotima and Rachel Scott, the menswear award to Ralph Lauren and the accessories award to Ana Khouri. Among the honorary awards, Tory Burch received the Positive Change Award, Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello the International Designer of the Year Award, and Bergdorf Goodman’s Linda Fargo the Founder’s Award.
In introducing the duo, the CFDA stresses that they have shaped the visual language of contemporary fashion for four decades through editorial shoots, advertising campaigns, portraits and artistic work. According to the organisation, their photographs stand out as works that reflect on beauty, identity and the human condition. On the day of the ceremony, ELLE also published an interview with the pair about this milestone.
A story stretching from Amsterdam to New York
Both were born in Amsterdam. According to their Wikipedia biographies, their paths crossed as students at the Fashion Academy Vogue in Amsterdam. Inez van Lamsweerde later completed a master’s degree in photography at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Vinoodh Matadin, meanwhile, had founded a clothing label called Lawina with a friend during those years. In 1986, Inez photographed the label’s collection, marking the start of the pair’s collaboration; Vinoodh first joined the shoots as a stylist and over time became the co-signatory of the photographs.
The duo settled permanently in New York in 1994 and quickly became sought-after names at fashion magazines. They shot for titles such as Vogue, Vogue Paris, Vogue Italia, W, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Interview and i-D. They created campaigns for brands including Chanel, Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu; their photographs also featured in Louis Vuitton’s campaigns during the Virgil Abloh era.
A visual world beyond fashion
Inez and Vinoodh’s work has never been confined to fashion pages. Since 1999 they have worked regularly with Björk on music videos and editorial projects. In 2013 they directed Lady Gaga’s “Applause” video, and in 2015 they made Rihanna’s “FourFiveSeconds” video. In 2023 they shot the cover photographs of Taylor Swift, Time magazine’s Person of the Year.
They also hold a strong place in the art world. In 2010, Amsterdam’s photography museum FOAM opened their retrospective Pretty Much Everything: Photographs 1985–2010, comprising around 300 works. In the summer of 2011 the exhibition went on an international tour, starting with the Bienal Pavilion in São Paulo. That same year, Taschen collected the pair’s work in the two-volume monograph Pretty Much Everything.
Why it matters
The CFDA awards are usually associated with designers’ names; honouring a photographer duo with a lifetime achievement award is a reminder that the fashion image is at least as decisive as the garment itself. Inez and Vinoodh’s story is also one of the rare examples of two people producing work under a shared signature for nearly forty years. Their output, ranging from campaigns to music videos and from magazine covers to museum exhibitions, serves as a reference for today’s models and photographers too.
Seen from Turkey, the lesson is clear as well: a model’s career is often shaped by the right shoot with the right photographer. Those who want to step into this world can take a look at our guide, What It Takes to Become a Model.
Sources
- ELLE — Interview with Inez and Vinoodh, 2 November 2026
- CFDA — Nominees and honorees of the 2026 CFDA Fashion Awards
- PR Newswire — Winners of the 2026 CFDA Fashion Awards, 3 November 2026
- 10 Magazine — The 2026 CFDA Awards night
- Wikipedia — Inez and Vinoodh
Image: Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin during their exhibition at the São Paulo Biennial — O Boticário SPFW / Marcos Madi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
