Bill Cunningham to Receive Excellence Award from Carnegie Hall

In recognition of nearly 50 years of documenting the city's fashion scene, Carnegie Hall will bestow the Carnegie Hall Media of Excellence upon iconic photographer Bill Cunningham at a gala this April. The organization also cited Cunningham's "role in inspiring great philanthropy" as yet another reason for him to be honored.

According to WWD, the gala's chairs include the chairman of Carnegie Hall's Board of Trustees, Annette and Oscar de la Renta, and Sarah Jessica Parker, while luminaries like Diane von Furstenberg and Barry Diller, among others, will be co-chairs.

While Cunningham has long been a fixture on the New York fashion scene -- always with his signature blue parka and trusty bicycle -- in the past year, he's become a national figure thanks to a documentary called "Bill Cunningham New York," which gained wide release this past year. Cunningham may have mixed feelings about his newfound popularity, but no one can argue he's an icon of the New York fashion scene, and the honor is well-deserved. It means even more for the distinction to come from Carnegie Hall, where Cunningham actually lived for many years in one of the building's artist studios.

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