On Wednesday morning, the CFDA and Lexus unveiled the 10 finalists of the inaugural CFDA + Lexus Fashion* Initiative. Later in the day, it was time to celebrate them, and so, that evening, a fashion crowd descended on Le Turtle, a new eatery set to open on Chrystie Street in November.
The finalists were all represented, as were many members of the advisory committee, including Barbara Burchfield and Olivia Wilde of Conscious Commerce, Julie Gilhart, Burak Cakmak of Parsons School of Design, Maiyet’s Kristy Caylor, Jason Kibbey of Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Melissa Joy Manning, and Alabama Chanin’s Natalie Chanin, as well as Lexus’s Andrea Lim and CFDA’s Lisa Smilor and Sara Kozlowski.
“I am so excited,” said finalist Sara Beltran, who is currently also in the CFDA {Fashion Incubator} and just became a new CFDA Member—a CFDA trajectory that has not gone unnoticed by her. “I feel like I am graduating from elementary to high school.”
Of the program, she added, “I am responsible not only the product but also the message.”
The sentiment was shared by all.
Nicholas Kunz of Nicholas K said that the program touches on a very personal ethos. “We live our lives very sustainably,” she said. “We go to farms and are conscious of recycling plastic bottles and our paper usage.”
Though this was the first time the finalists got together as a group, the sense of camaraderie between them was palpable. As K/LLER Collection’s Katie DeGuzman put it, “I love that it’s a 17-month program and how much we can learn from each other.”
The three brands that have most evolved to higher standards of sustainability and social responsibility will be crowned in 2017. The winner will receive a Grand Prize of $150,000, while the two runners-up will each take home $50,000.
The finalists are Aurora James of Brother Vellies; Sara Beltran of Dezso by Sara Beltran; Erin Isakov of Erin Snow; Britt Cosgrove and Marina Polo of SVILU; Nicholas and Christopher Kunz of Nicholas K; Prabal Gurung; Katie DeGuzman and Michael Miller of K/LLER Collection, Ryan Lobo and Ramon Martin of TOME; Wing Yin Yau of WWAKE, and Maria Cornejo of Zero + Maria Cornejo.
