Bach Mai, Dauphinette’s Olivia Cheng and Kozaburo’s Kozaburo Akasaka have been tapped for the second annual CFDA|Genesis House AAPI Design + Innovation Grant. Over the next five months, each of the three designers will participate in a mentorship program guided with industry authorities including Meta’s vice president of fashion Eva Chen, Monse cofounders and Oscar de la Renta’s co-creative directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia, fashion journalist Alina Cho and others. This year’s grant winners will aim to create collections that meld elements of their Asian heritage with contemporary design and innovation.
All three companies are among the younger talent on the New York fashion scene. Bach Mai, a Vietnamese American talent, was raised in Houston and started his namesake company in New York in 2019. As a student at The New School’s Parsons School of Design, he was nominated for the Womenswear Designer of the Year. He first worked at Calvin Klein and then Oscar de la Renta. After earning a master’s degree in fashion design from the Institut Francais de la Mode, Mai worked for Prabal Gurung and later for Maison Margiela under John Galliano. His ready-to-wear and custom looks are designed in his Midtown New York showroom. His spring collection will be unveiled Sunday at a show at the Chelsea Factory.
Cheng started Dauphinette in 2018, specializing in one-of-a-kind, New York-made ready-to-wear pieces that use recycled and byproduct pieces and artisanal accents. Bridal, fragrance, jewelry, handbags and accessories are also in the mix and the designer has a West Village flagship. Known for her use of repurposed textiles and botanical prints, Cheng touts her label as “the happiest brand on earth.”
Before Kozaburo became a fashion label, Akasaka earned a BFA from Central Saint Martins and a master’s degree from The New School’s Parsons School of Design. The Japanese-born designer spent a few years at Thom Browne before he ventured out on his own. In 2017, he won LVMH’s Special Prize for his menswear.
Genesis House will provide each of this year’s three participants with a $40,000 grant for their collections, with an additional $60,000 earmarked for a winning designer to further expand their business. This fall the trio of designers will travel to Seoul for a cultural trip that is geared for design inspiration for the collections they are developing for the challenge. The winner will be unveiled in February with a public showcase at Genesis House.
