Christie Brinkley and Daughters Receive Style Influencer Award

Christie Brinkley won’t let anyone define her—especially Father Time. On December 4, the Sag Harbor resident received the Style Influencer Award at the Footwear News (FN) Achievement Awards along with daughters Sailor Brinkley Cook and Alexa Ray Joel as FN’s first multi-generational style influencers. Despite her vast experience in the fashion world, this is the first fashion award Brinkley has ever won.

At the event, attended by fashion titans such as Mastic resident Anna Wintour, Brinkley spoke up about the issues many women face: ageism. “I feel like ageism is the last frontier in America that we really need to address,” she said, “because there’s so much of it going on, and women my age, they very often feel invisible.”

As a veteran supermodel, Brinkley understands more than most the effect ageism has on women, but she doesn’t want herself or anyone else to be defined by what is expected of women her age, “Everybody’s different, and everybody should make their own rules,” she said. “I want women to feel like fashion is fun. Fashion is about change, and change is good; change keeps you young.” A woman who stands by what she preaches, Brinkley organized the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Fashion Show in July that included all kinds of women: those with tattoos and prosthetic limbs and even a breastfeeding mother.

On December 5, Brinkley posted an Instagram photo of her and her daughters receiving the award. Included in her caption, she took one more shot at the arbitrary ageism of the world: “For me it’s an opportunity to give the numbers that define my generation the boot because let’s face it we have allowed those numbers to boss us around for too long…So to me after over 40 years in an industry that used to tell us we were washed up at 30 this is an amazing honor to be recognized.”

When they received the award, Brinkley Cook echoed her mother’s feelings with a story about Sasha, a homeless woman she met when giving out donations on Thanksgiving. Sasha just wanted to feel beautiful again, so Sailor gave her a makeover, complete with makeup, a faux leopard coat and a pair of hot-pink Reebok sneakers. Sasha was moved to tears. “She was so grateful to be able to feel that again, to be able to own that identity that fashion gives you and that I think I take for granted every day,” Sailor said.

During the awards show, East Hampton icon Martha Stewart presented FFANY Shoes on Sale with the Icon Award for Philanthropy, speaking highly of their charitable efforts. “FFANY Shoes on Sale was a bold idea 25 years ago, before there was any cause marketing,” she said. “What a big idea—to rally as an industry to save lives.” Since its creation, the organization has donated more than $55 million toward first-step breast cancer research.