Over the course of this year, some businesses did more than survive — they thrived and grew, all while protecting their employees’ health and giving back to the world.

In an era upended by pandemic and recession, companies of all stripes have scrambled to innovate, scale and survive. But some media, marketing, fashion, beauty and retail players have continued to succeed in the face of daunting odds.

Ahead of this year’s Glossy Beauty Awards and Glossy Fashion Awards, the winning brands worked to break down walls of exclusivity and prejudice, and built forward-thinking partnerships and activations in the process. 

Leading the finalists for the first-ever Glossy Fashion Awards are Naadam and Stuart Weitzman.

2020 Future Leader Awards, which recognize the next generation of leaders across media and marketing, fashion, beauty and retail, go to Mike Jeong of PepsiCo, Gwendolyn Rahn of PopSugar and Hana Kajimura of Allbirds.

Leading the nominations for the first-ever Glossy Beauty awards are Benefit Cosmetics, Sephora and Eos.

Forty-six individuals have been short listed for Digiday's 2020 Future Leader Awards, which recognize the next generation of leaders from the media and marketing, fashion, beauty and retail industries.

Il Makiage, Rothy’s and Net-a-Porter lead the nominations for the 2019 Glossy Awards, which featured a handful of new categories including Best Digital Experience, Best Non-Digital Marketing Campaign and Best Loyalty Program.

This year’s Glossy Awards were hosted by supermodel and “queen of pose” Coco Rocha at Current at Chelsea Piers in New York City. The annual awards gala honors the brands, media companies and technology firms that are transforming the fashion and beauty industries at a time of seismic change.