At a board meeting this week, members discussed an awards ceremony that would hark back to the early days of the event when industry insiders would gather at the New York Public Library.

Unfortunately, the board meeting was cut short and no final decisions have been made. "It will be scaled down, but we haven't come to a conclusion as to how exactly that will happen," says Herman.

The pared-down event is tentatively scheduled for June 3. As for reports that it will be held at Lincoln Center's State Theater, Herman says, "I cannot confirm that, no."

The awards have been held before an audience of 2,000 at Avery Fisher Hall for the last two years.

Expect this summer's event to focus more on designers than the celebrities that have attended in the past.

Last year, Heather Graham, Brendan Fraser, Naomi Campbell, Diana Ross and Gisele Bundchen were among the awards presenters.

This year the event will celebrate the organization's 40th anniversary, and will likely feature less "special awards" categories than it has in the past.

Herman says the next edition of the American Fashion Awards will "definitely represent the time, and be the kickoff for our 40th year as a group. There will actually be a number of efforts that will go on throughout the year."

Calvin Klein and Oscar de la Renta were officially reinstated as CFDA board members at the group's August membership meeting.

The two resigned their positions in 1999, after the five-hour debacle of that year's American Fashion Awards ceremony.

Now, de la Renta will join Michael Kors and Diane von Furstenberg as a co-chair of this year's awards.

At the same meeting last August, the question of whether the awards should again be televised was one of the most heated topics discussed. Six months later, the idea has been axed.

Awards show drama isn't the only thing going on at the CFDA these days though, and Herman sharply distinguished between the award-focused board meeting and the membership meeting, a 70-member get together he describes as "extraordinary ... the best membership meeting we've had in a long time."

It was only Peter Arnold's second membership meeting as executive director of the council. Arnold was chosen to fill Fern Mallis' shoes last June when the 10-year CFDA vet followed 7th on Sixth to IMG.

"The council has changed greatly since 7th on Sixth was sold," Herman revealed today. "We want to build it into an organization that is very membership-driven ... a cohesive arts and trade organization."

As part of this new direction, attendees at this week's membership meeting broke into pods to discuss their needs and desires. And as it turns out, they were all on the same page.

"We have icon names as well as very young designers and our commitment now is going to be to nurture and mentor young designers," says Herman. "We're going to concentrate on the design community here in New York and what it can do with its clout for the industry."