Following last week’s meeting of the Elaine Gold Launch Pad Advisory Board with each finalist, the CFDA and Accessories Council are excited to unveil that six  designers have been selected to participate in the inaugural edition.

They are Alexis Isabel (footwear); Emily Adams Bode of Bode (menswear); Lucy Jones of FFORA (accessories, innovation);  Ali Rose, Jack Burns, Mark Richardson of Genusee (optical);  Maria Kazakova of Jahnkoy (womenswear, menswear), and Jameel Mohammed of  KHIRY (jewelry).

Launch Pad is a joint program between the two organizations with a focus on business innovation and helping early emerging designers (operating from 0-3 years) launch their careers in apparel, accessories, jewelry or textiles/knitwear.

In addition to Accessories Council’s Karen Giberson and Leila Larijani and CFDA’s Steven Kolb, Lisa Smilor and Sara Kozlowski, the Advisory Board features Cadet’s Brad Schmidt, Carly-Ann Fergus of XRC Labs, Colette Malouf, Assembly NY’s Greg Arman, Jake Sargent of Soft Matter Venture, John Jones of Fjord and Accenture, Keanan Duffty of Polimoda, Tory Burch’s Marshall Cheek, Rebecca Minkoff, Sarah Blair of Barneys New York, and Ideo’s Sebastien Park.

The board selected 11 finalists from 97 applications. Each finalist received a $2,500 stipend towards their July 27 Live Design Pitch presentation to the board as well as mentorship from Sebastien Park.

The participants will take part in a six-month virtual residency, which will combine creative and business mentorship with micro awards totaling $175,000 – the goal of the program is to advance visionary ideas into viable, valuable business offerings. The program encourages focus to holistic design and business innovation, sustainability, and technology– integrated into product, service and systems into their business models. Practical business/ professional development will include a range of areas including brand strategy, finance, value chain, production, retail/commerce, and strategic planning.