The recipients of the 2025 CFDA Scholarship Fund are here.

From over 300 applicants, 37 finalists were selected to present their work in mid-August to the 2025 CFDA Scholarship Fund selection committee, which included esteemed CFDA members Andrea Fohrman, Beckett Fogg from Area, Jasmin Larian Hekmat of Cult Gaia, Kenneth Nicholson and Sue Stemp, as well as designers Dynasty and Soull Ogun of L’Enchanteur, Ib Kamara from Off-White, Kim Shui, Melitta Baumestier, Spencer Phipps of Phipps and Zoe Latta of Eckhaus Latta, and industry leaders Amanda Smith of WWD, Hannah Stoudemire of FFA, Mara Hutton of Geoffrey Beene Foundation and Matthew Bauer of Madison Ave B.I.D.

Committed to supporting American fashion designers of tomorrow, the CFDA Scholarship Fund has awarded approximately $4.4 million and 384 scholarships from 1996 to 2025. This year, we dedicate all of our scholarships in honor of Elsa Klensch, the pioneering journalist and two-time decorated CFDA Fashion Award recipient, who generously supported the CFDA’s commitment to education through her estate.

Get to know the eight selected talents below.

The CFDA Design Scholar Award

The CFDA Design Scholar Award is the highest honor within the CFDA Scholarship Fund, recognizing a BFA fashion design student whose work demonstrates innovation in areas such as sustainable design, new technologies, and boundary-pushing concepts.

The 2025 award was presented to Lana Mingasson of Parsons School of Design for her experimental materiality and forward-thinking approach to sustainable design.

The CFDA Design Scholar Award for Innovative Approaches to DEI

This secondary award celebrates a student whose work advances diversity, equity, and inclusion in fashion through innovative concepts such as designing for people with disabilities, adaptive fashion, inclusivity, fashion activism, or social justice.

The 2025 recipient is Ababa Lorde of Kent State University. While many organizations have scaled back DEI initiatives, CFDA remains committed to driving meaningful change.

The Geoffrey Beene Award

Mitch Kalungi of Parsons School of Design received this prestigious honor for his commitment to challenging conventional approaches to material and shape. Kalungi developed biodegradable textiles from banana pseudo stems in collaboration with women artisans in rural Uganda, expanding whose stories and bodies are represented in fashion.

The CFDA California Wildfires Relief Scholarship

The 2025 CFDA Scholarship Fund also supported a BFA fashion design student directly impacted by the California Wildfires. The recipient is Keir Joseph Todaro of Parsons School of Design.

The CFDA x Veronica Beard Creative Futures Scholarship

This new scholarship recognizes four BFA fashion design or textiles students excelling in specific categories: denim, knits & sweaters, soft wovens, and tailoring. Each recipient received a $50,000 scholarship and a paid summer internship at Veronica Beard’s corporate headquarters in New York City. The inaugural recipients are:

• Athmiha Saravanen (FIT – Tailoring)
• Giorgio Parolini Arroyo (FIT – Soft Wovens)
• Samira Koehler (FIT – Denim)
• Lena Alibrio (Marist University – Knits & Sweaters)

The impressive list of past recipients includes Uyen Tran of TômTex (2020), Jacques Agbobly of Agbobly (2019), Peter Do (2013), Michelle Ochs (2006), Chris Benz (2003), and Jack McCollough of Loewe (2001). Peter Som was the inaugural scholarship award recipient in 1996.

Congratulations, to our 2025 scholars!