Building on its history of honoring individuals and companies, the Accessories Council launched the design Excellence Awards to expand the recognition of outstanding products – especially ones that will be in-market during the critical Fall/Holiday 2019 selling season. Voting for the final winners in most categories was open to everyone on accessoriescouncil.org from August 5th, 2019 through August 23rd, 2019. Two categories—the Hall of Fame and NPD Award—were determined by The Accessories Council Board and NPD statistical data, respectively. Winners were announced at the Design Excellence Awards 2019 Luncheon on Thursday, September 5th at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.