In 2017, the CFDA and Accessories Council joined forces and conceived the Elaine Gold Launch Pad initiative which, for three consecutive years, provided $700,000 in micro-grants and mentorship to 16 early emerging brands anchored by sustainability, innovation, and technology.
On Tuesday evening, at the Lower Eastside Girls Club (LESGC), the professional development program culminated with a celebration of three early-phase brands founded by women of color navigating fashion’s complex supply chain at different points in their careers, and youth designers from the LESGC.
It came with $105,000 in micro-grants underwritten by Elaine Gold Foundation and mentorship to three female founders, including resource grants of $5,000 each for sustainability investments and business grants of $30,000 each for any areas of need. Mentors included executives from Brosway Italia, CFDA, Design Quadrant, Hand Baldachin & Associates LLP, Hedaya Capital, LHB Group, Revivethecool, and Vogue.
The fellows are Dirty Celebrity, LISELLE KISS©, and T1tan Studio.
Eva and Yvette Estime created Dirty Celebrity to help everyone express themselves with attention grabbing statement pieces sure to spark a conversation. Eva and Yvette purposely design high-quality, sustainable, and unique fashion accessories such as handbags, sunglasses, hair accessories, hats, scarves, and timeless jewelry pieces. And have won the Klarna Iniative, Luminary Fellowship and venture capitalist group Coralus x PNC.
Liselle Kiss’ design sensibility pulls from her multicultural background including her Trinidadian mother in Miami, and Brooklyn, where Kiss is based. After years in couture and bridal styling, the Parsons School of Design graduate focused on handbags to provide women timeless, elegant, affordable luxury handbags that inspire confidence and freedom of expression. Her handbags are currently in luxury retailers including Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdale’s, and Nordstrom.
T1tan Studio’s Madelen Nyau was born in Zambia, raised in Queens, and is now based in Brooklyn. Innovation and experimentation informs the Pratt University graduate, who has worked at Thompson Street Studio and anOnlyChild. Among her accolades are a Christopher on Point Award, participation in CFDA’s Fashion Future Graduate Showcase, and the Season Zero design contest.
Throughout the program, the designers were challenged to make responsible design and business decisions that integrated youth culture and community building through meaningful intergenerational learning in collaboration with LESGC.
A jewelry and accessories intensive challenged LESGC youth designers to use their creativity to design elaborate jewelry with a focus on crowns –symbolizing royalty, beauty, and tradition. And a sewing and design intensive taught them basic sewing and design skills, challenging them to create responsibly using upcycled materials to make bags in various styles. The wearable works of art were revealed at Tuesday’s event.
Additionally, each brand has met with a manufacturer from the CFDA Production Directory for a one-hour info share session around production and best practices for emerging designs. The participating manufacturers were Kyung Park of Sepia NYC, who met with Liselle Kiss; Christine McPartland of Earwings, who met with Dirty Celebrity’s Eva and Yvette Estime, and Pauline Lock from InStyle USA, who met with T1tan Studio’s Madelen Nyau. Each brand learned tips on working with local manufacturers, how they could make small changes to improve their current supply chain processes, and how to cut costs for sampling/ production.
“We learned about finance, we learned about sustainability,” said Kiss. “My bags are made with upcycled materials so it was really great to have a sustainability section. It was so nice to meet with Sepia. We are really excited to not just be a woman and Black owned brand, but also by the fact that we are creating inclusive luxury, and that’s very important.”
Nyau of T1tan Studio added, “I try to find different ways to express my own curiosities and building a creative language based on that. It was so great to work with the girls and be around young people. Their perception of fashion was very pure and optimistic.”
Dirty Celebrity’s Eva Estime noted, “We learned so much crafting our brand here at the Lower Eastside Girls Club and we actually did a community event [in Jersey City in collaboration with Mint Market] for Earth Day.”
