26th Anniversary Inspiration Awards Gala

Carol Lim and Humberto Leon are the co-owners of Opening Ceremony, a retail destination and clothing brand they founded in 2002, and have been the co-creative directors of French fashion house KENZO since 2011.

Inspired by their world travels together, Carol Lim and Humberto Leon left their jobs in the corporate fashion sector to start their own company, Opening Ceremony, in 2002. Opening Ceremony (OC) has grown from its first NYC store into a global brand and is renowned for scouting emerging fashion talent from around the world and supporting them alongside well-established designers.

According to its founding principles of exploration and friendship, OC has collaborated with brands and creatives including Google, Intel, Coach, Spike Jonze, Yoko Ono, Terence Koh and Chloë Sevigny. The OC collection has been worn by notables such as Drake, Cate Blanchett, Justin Bieber and members of the Obama family.

Fast Company named OC one of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” in 2011, and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum honored OC with the National Design Award for Fashion Design in 2016. In July 2011, French luxury group LVMH appointed Leon and Lim as co-creative directors of KENZO, a storied Parisian fashion house founded in 1969 by Kenzo Takada.

Leon and Lim are advisors to the Parsons School for Design, judges for the LVMH Fashion Fund, as well as members of the selection jury for the ANDAM fashion award, distributed annually in Paris.

Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Jhené Aiko was already more than a decade deep in music when she arrived at Def Jam in 2011 having been featured on projects by A-listers including Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and more.

Jhené made history when her 2013 debut EP, Sail Out, became the biggest-selling EP in Def Jam history, earning RIAA-certified Gold status with Platinum and Gold hits “The Worst” and “Bed Peace”. She then joined Drake on his 39-city U.S. tour and collaborated with Big Sean on their 2016 duo project, TWENTY88.

Jhené’s sophomore project Trip, a Movie, Album and Poetry book (M.A.P.), details an alternate form of therapy to deal with the loss of her brother, Miyagi Hasani Ayo Chilombo, to cancer in 2012. Trip debuted at #1 on Billboard’s R&B Albums Chart with RIAA-certified Gold singles “Sativa” and “While We’re Young.”

A lifelong writer, Jhené completed her trifecta by authoring the Barnes & Noble Bestseller, 2Fish, presenting an intimate portrait of herself as Penny, the nickname given by her grandfather, with excerpts pulled directly from her childhood journals.

Jhené is a pop culture icon with a heavy presence in Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, CR Fashion Book, Nylon and more. While Jhené has proved to be a trailblazer in the music, art and fashion space, she has created a unique convergence of literature, philanthropy and personal well-being.

Last year, Jhené partnered with Viacom’s Get Schooled, an award-winning non-profit dedicated to using the power of technology and pop culture to inspire young people toward higher education, with the #PennysPen campaign engaging over 45 million nationwide. Jhené also launched the W.A.Y.S. foundation, an acronym for “Why aren’t you smiling,” in honor of her late brother. The foundation, led by Jhené and her family, is dedicated to instilling hope into the lives of those who need help.