Michael Kors, Nina Dobrev and Zac Posen celebrate CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award winners

On Monday evening, key figures in the American fashion industry gathered at the Crane Club for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards.

Before the awards were handed out, designers including 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 circulated the bar with Adrien Brody. When asked if the event took him back to his early days, Kors quipped: “Oh my God, yes, but what doesn’t? But in one good manner.”

Wang, who was part of the judging team in the fund’s second year, said: “It’s wonderful that this continues. The review process I took part in is so thorough and it’s so great to mentor young designers. It’s nice to see the next generation supporting young talent.”

The stylish crowd was hosted by Posen, Reliance Retailer’s Isha Ambani, Anna Wintour and Chloe Malle. After guests were seated for dinner, CFDA President and CEO Steven Kolb reminded them how the fund “supports emerging designers and enables them to create sustainable businesses, helping American fashion continue to grow, evolve and move forward with creativity and purpose.”

This year’s finalists were each recognized: 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 labels of the same name. Kolb also mentioned that Tommy Hilfiger sponsored a design competition to solve accessibility issues, which paired each of the finalists with muses like Aariana Rose Philip, who were also in the mix.

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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 requires a certain level of efficiency, the evening’s remarks and the award ceremony were succinct. The names were announced, there were cheers and the grateful winners accepted the awards and quickly posed for photos.

A former fund winner and current judge, Posen, who is now creative director of Gap Inc., offered some words of wisdom. He said: “Be prepared for a long journey, enjoy it, creativity is a lifelong pursuit. As artists and creators, we have the ability to create over a long period of time. So be patient, enjoy it and thank you for being here.”

Wintour then sent a message of thanks to Condé Nast news director Mark Holgate, who was persuaded “not to leave Vogue entirely” but to relocate to London. She said: “What I like most about Mark is that despite his Scottish reserve at heart, he is an enthusiast. He loves fashion. He loves art. He loves music, literature and great journalism, and he has done so much for Vogue to open us up to all of those things. He is thoughtful and demanding as an editor, but also a wonderful, wonderful writer.”

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

Wintour continued: “He’s a big gossip and one trembles to imagine what his future Vogue memoirs will surely contain. But the fashion fund is a project that is very close to his heart. He thinks about it all year round and is always on the lookout for new talent.”

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

Park, who leaned forward in her chair when she heard her name for the first time, still seemed overwhelmed later that evening. The designer, whose previous experience included stints at Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Calvin Klein in the Raf Simons era, said kindly: “I really thought that this should go to someone else. I think if I’m too lucky, I should lose something else. Life is always give and take, so I was worried about that. I wanted to come second.”

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

As dreamy as the Crane Club dinner may have been for some, for some of the finalists the reality of fashion was ever-present. Okuma started exhibiting art right out of high school and founded her clothing company in 2010. She works on the La Jolla Indian Reservation. “You really have to know every single aspect of the job, 24 hours a day,” she said.

Louie, who founded Aubero three years ago, pointed out that being an independent designer can be “such a strange, arduous process” and said that every small decision made has “big consequences”, be it in terms of development, production, sales or marketing. But because it’s a one-person company, its $100,000 second-place grant in 2025 will go a long way.

As the dinner ended, Do said it was an “honor” to be able to meet his colleagues and become part of the fashion industry through the fund. “Every day there is the new unknown and I wake up with 10 new problems. But I am also very grateful that I have the opportunity and freedom to adapt to whatever comes next.”

Like many of the attendees, Gurung was looking toward the future rather than the next big thing at the awards dinner. A former runner-up for the fund, he said: “To be honest, it’s nice to see everyone coming. Hopefully these 10 designers will give the fashion industry a real boost.”

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

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