Vera Wang, Michael Kors, Nina Dobrev, More Celebrate Emerging Designers

On Monday night, key figures from the American fashion industry gathered for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund awards at the Crane Club.

Before the awards were handed out, designers like Michael Kors, Vera Wang, Zac Posen, Tory Burch, Wes Gordon, Prabal Gurung, Emily Adams Bode Aujla, Melitta Baumeister, Jackson Wiederhoeft, Christopher John Rogers, Batsheva Hay, and Georgina Chapman with Adrien Brody circulated in the bar. Asked whether the event brings him back to his early days, Kors quipped, “Oh my god, yes, but what doesn’t? But in a good way.”

Having been part of the team of judges in the fund’s second year, Wang said, “It’s wonderful that this has continued. The vetting process that I participated in is so thorough, and it so great that it’s mentoring young designers. It’s nice to see that the next generation is encouraging young talent.”

The stylish crowd was hosted by Posen, Reliance Retailer’s Isha Ambani, Anna Wintour and Chloe Malle. Once guests were corralled into their seats for dinner, the CFDA’s president and chief executive officer Steven Kolb reminded them how the fund “supports emerging designers and enables them to create sustainable businesses, helping American fashion to continue to grow, evolve and lead with creativity and purpose.”

This year’s finalists were each singled out — Ashlyn’s Ashlynn Park, Aubero’s Julian Louie, Heirlome’s Stephanie Suberville, Don’t Let Disco’s Ashley Moubayed, Gabe Gordon’s Gabe Gordon and Timothy Gibbons, Meruert Tolegen’s Meruert Planul-Tolegen and Bach Mai, Bernard James, Jamie Okuma and Peter Do — all of whom have namesake labels. Kolb also noted how Tommy Hilfiger had sponsored a design challenge to solve inaccessibility issues that paired each of the finalists with muses like Aariana Rose Philip, who were also in the mix.

Other attendees included Nina Dobrev, Nordstrom’s Rickie De Sole, Instagram’s Eva Chen, Saks Fifth Avenue’s Roopal Patel, Ashley Graham, Moda Operandi’s Lauren Santo Domingo, Derek Blasberg, Anna Weyant, and Ivy Getty. Just as design needs a certain amount of efficiency, the evening’s remarks and the awards presentation were concise. Names were announced, cheers ensued and grateful winners accepted and quickly posed for photos.

As a former fund-winner-turned-judge, Posen, who is now Gap Inc.’s creative director, shared some words of wisdom. He said, “Be prepared for a long road, enjoy it, creativity is a lifelong pursuit. As artists and creators, we have that ability to create for a long time. So, be patient, enjoy and thank you for being here.”

Then Wintour led a toast of thanks to Condé Nast’s news director Mark Holgate, who has been persuaded “not to leave Vogue entirely,” but will be relocating to London. She said, “One of my very favorite things about Mark is that for all his Scottish reserve, he is at the heart an enthusiast. He loves fashion. He loves art. He loves music, literature and great journalism, and he’s done so much to Vogue to open us to all of these things. He’s thoughtful and demanding as an editor, but also a wonderful, wonderful writer.”

“And single,” Holgate offered from his seat at a table — to much laughter and applause.

Wintour continued, “He’s a great gossip and one trembles to imagine what his future Vogue memoir will surely include. But the fashion fund is a project that has been close to his heart. He thinks about it all year ‘round and is always looking to recruit new talent”

After a few brief, but sincere words of thanks from Holgate, the model Alex Consani, statuesque in a silver evening gown, announced the 2025 runners-ups — first Louie of Aubero and then Suberville of Heirlome. This year’s winner Ashlynn Park, the founder and creator of Ashlyn, picked up her second major honor in a week. The New York-based designer won the Emerging Designer of the Year award at the CFDA Awards on Nov. 3.

Park, who folded forward in her chair when she first heard her name called, still seemed to be bowled over later in the evening. The designer, whose previous experience included stops at Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Calvin Klein in the Raf Simons era, said graciously, “I really thought this should go to someone else. I believe that if I have too much luck, I should lose something else. Life is always a give-and-take, so I was worried about that. I wanted to be a runner-up.”

She continued earnestly, “I really wanted it to be another emerging designer. It feels like a dream. I’m dreaming.”

However dreamlike the Crane Club dinner may have seemed for some, the waking realities of fashion were omnipresent with several of the finalists. Having started doing art shows right out of high school, Okuma launched her clothing company in 2010 and works from the La Jolla Indian reservation. “You really have to know every single aspect of the job and it’s 24 hours a day,” she said.

Noting how being an independent designer can be “such a strange, arduous process,” Louie, who started Aubero three years ago, said every little decision that is made has “huge consequences” whether that be about development, production, sales or marketing. But as a Ione-person operation, his $100,000 grant for being a 2025 runner-up will go far. 

As the dinner broke up, Do said that having the chance to meet his peers through the fund and to become a part of the fashion industry has been an “honor.” “Every day there is the new unknown, and I wake up with 10 new problems. But I’m also very grateful that I have the possibility and the freedom to adjust and adapt to whatever comes next.”

Like many of the attendees, Gurung was taking the long view at the awards dinner versus looking out for the next big thing. A former fund runner-up, he said, “To be honest, it’s nice to see that everyone shows up. Hopefully, these 10 designers are going to make a real dent in the fashion industry.”

Moubayed said that when Kolb called her to tell her she was a finalist, she knew that it was going to be “so hard,” but that it would also push her toward something so much bigger. “This was exactly that,” she said.