Every year, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (otherwise known as the CFDA) and Vogue get together and collectively choose designers to compete in their Fashion Fund program.
The Fashion Fund was founded in 2003, and it is perhaps every designer’s dream and aspiration to compete. As its name suggests, the program financially helps sponsor a designer, also offering them mentorship to grow and survive in today’s fashion market. The reality is many designers that come from the Fashion Fund are sustainable and successful, no doubt due in part to the approval and stamp of approval by Vogue and Anna Wintour. We’ve seen Alexander Wang, Pyer Moss, Telfar, Jonathan Simkhai, and so many others come from this program that offers a $400,000 prize to launch and grow ones brand.
The finalists were chosen by a panel of judges who included Diane von Furstenberg (the past CFDA President), Anna Wintour, Steven Kolb, Chioma Nnadi (Vogue), Andrew Rosen, Mark Holgate, Eva Chen, Paloma Elsesser, Jeffrey Kalinsky, Roopal Patel, and Joseph Altuzarra. Judges will have the opportunity to review their collections and provide feedback. So, who made the cut? Here’s the 10:
Abasi Rosborough‘s Abdul Abasi and Greg Rosborough
Alejandra Alonso Rojas (the designer and brand)
Barragán‘s Victor Barragan
Christopher John Rogers (the designer and brand)
Collina Strada‘s Hillary Taymour
Danielle Frankel‘s Danielle Hirsch
Lou Dallas‘s Raffaella Hanley
Private Policy‘s Siying Qu and Haoran Li
Reese Cooper (the designer and brand)
And TRE by Natalie Ratabesi‘s Natalie Ratabesi.
