Looking around alpine-chic Le Chalet at L’Avenue at Saks on Wednesday evening, one couldn’t help but feel the immediate bond between past CFDA/Vogue Fashion Funders – who had come out to celebrate the 2024 finalists and raise a toast to the program’s 20th anniversary – and the new crop.
As Saks senior vice president and fashion director Roopal Patel – who serves on the program’s Selection Committee – put it in her remarks to the talent, “I hope you all het to know each other. At the end of the day, what I love about the fund most is the incredible sense of community it brings. You are part of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund community and that’s what makes it so brilliant.”
Jennifer Fisher, Prabal Gurung, Batsheva Hay, Gigi Burris-O’Hara, Jonathan Cohen and Sarah Leff, Abrima Erwiah, Taofeek Abijako, and Edvin Thompson were among the guests, along with Victor Glemaud, Alejandra Alonso Rojas, Kim Shui, Fletcher Kasell and Tanner Richie, and Kozaburo Akasaka.
CFDA CEO Steven Kolb recalled pitching the Fashion Fund to then-new Saks CEO Marc Metrick over lunch. “Literally, within 24 hours, Marc said yes, because he saw the value and importance of the Fashion Fund. It is the 20th anniversary and I like to think we are the original young talent program. We’re proud that we have set an example and see more support for young designers.”
Anna Wintour, Thom Browne, and Kolb were also joined by Selection Committee members Mark Holgate, Nicole Phelps, Rickie De Sole, Eva Chen, and Paloma Elsesser.
The 2024 finalists – Taylor Thompson, Connor McKnight, Grace Ling, Kate Barton, Dynasty and Soull Ogun, Spencer Phipps, Presley Oldham, Sebastien and Marianne Amisial, Jane Wade, and Jackson Wiederhoeft – clearly enjoyed the moment. Their Fashion Fund journey has officially begun!
