Date Posted: Wednesday 28th April 2021
The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has announced the ten finalists for CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund 2021, who, for the first time, will all receive funding.
The finalists are:
- Batsheva Hay of vintage-inspired, New York-based ready-to-wear label Batsheva
- Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta of 2018 LVMH Prize nominee Eckhaus Latta
- Anifa Mvuemba of bold womenswear brand Hanifa
- Mother and daughter duo Rebecca Henry and Akua Shabaka of House of Aama
- Contemporary menswear designer Kenneth Nicholson
- Jameel Mohammed of Afrofuturist luxury label Khiry
- Queens-born womenswear designer LaQuan Smith
- Abrima Erwiah of African fashion-focused social enterprise Studio One Eighty Nine
- Jamaican-born, Brooklyn-based designer Edvin Thompson of Theophilio
- Californian conceptual menswear designer Willy Chavarria
The designers are the first to participate in the Fashion Fund’s new format, which opens the program up to emerging designers, as well as past Fashion Fund finalists and designers who have received funding from the CFDA’s “A Common Thread” initiative, which provided financial relief for members of the fashion community affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“After an incredibly challenging time for all of us in fashion, especially here in New York, we’re thrilled that this year we are able to support all of our finalists,” said Anna Wintour, global editorial director of Vogue and chief content officer of Condé Nast. “It’s not only a vote of confidence in their talents but in a brighter future for American fashion.”