NEW YORK -- Amid the curated electronic music, models’ cold stares and magazine editors lining the runway at New York Fashion Week this season, several designers felt a particular sense of urgency.In a little over a month, they will learn whether they have won of one of the most coveted competitions for emerging designers: The Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund.The fund, which has catapulted past participants including Proenza Schouler and Thom Browne into the upper echelons of fashion, marks its 20th anniversary this year.It provides 10 finalists with access to industry leaders, with mentorship on everything from growing their brands to showing at New York Fashion Week.
This year’s judges include Browne, Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, Saks fashion director Roopal Patel and CFDA CEO Steven Kolb.There's also a financial prize: Winners are awarded $300,000, while two runner-ups receive $100,000 each.To be eligible, designers must be U.S.-based, employ fewer than 30 people and bring in less than $10 million in revenue.The magnitude of the fund weighs on current finalist Grace Ling, originally from Singapore.
Ling, who was honored with the CFDA’s first Asian American and Pacific Islander Genesis grant totaling $100,000 in February, was able to scale up her business from a one-woman show to hiring an additional employee to help with production.“For the last three years, I have basically been a one-man show,” she said.Winning this fund would allow her to level up immediately.At Ling’s show, “Neanderthal,” a diverse group of models glided past a jutting rock formation in 3D-printed aluminum looks, carrying her playful purses — including her signature butt bag, shaped like a sculpted derriere.
Backstage, Ling described the collection as a modern, sensual interpretation of what she calls primitive chic.Kolb said the fund separates new designers from the mass of new brands vying for attention.“The fashion fund is also beyond...