Zac Posen won for both Textile Design and Personal Essay in 1998. Since then he has gone on to become a world-famous fashion designer, whose designs have become the preferred fashions of celebrities such as Natalie Portman, Beyoncé, Kate Winslet, and so many more. Today we wish him a very special Happy Birthday!

Zac was born on October 24 to artist Stephen Posen and lawyer Susan Posen. He grew in the SoHo neighborhood in New York City. Zac had the opportunity to intern with fashion designer Nicole Miller when he was only a sophomore in high school, attended a pre-college program at Parsons at 16, and was mentored by Richard Martin Martin at The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a teen! He went on to attend Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in London. Zac had his big break in 2000 when he made a dress for model Naomi Campbell. In 2001 he received a grant to present a capsule collection for GenArt’s Fresh Faces in Fashion New York. These days, Zac’s success continues to grow and he maintains his design studio in Manhattan.

In the video below, see Zac speak about what winning a Scholastic Award meant to him.