Cheers! The CFDA, Vogue, and Saks Feted the 2024 CVFF Finalists and Toasted 20 Years of the Fashion Fund

Last night at L’Avenue at Saks, in the cozy Le Chalet downstairs, Vogue and the Council of Fashion Designers of America gathered a group of young designers to announce the next set of CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund (or, CVFF) finalists.

“We are so excited to have you all here this evening to unveil the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists and start the celebration for the 20-year anniversary!” said Roopal Patel, fashion director at Saks, radiant in a red-orange organza Khaite dress.

It’s hard to believe over 20 years have gone by since Proenza Schouler’s Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough were awarded the very first CVFF finalist prize. The program has evolved over the years; at one point, it was even broadcast as a challenge-filled reality show, The Fashion Fund, for Hulu in 2011. During the pandemic, a rocky time for up-and-coming designers, the challenges were lifted, and designers were automatically awarded grants out of solidarity.

Those designers who have matriculated through the program form air-tight bonds. It’s not unusual to see “classmates” together at cocktail parties or seated front row at each other’s shows.

“The Fashion Fund is about community. It really is about friendships—I’ve seen so many people become close friends over the years. And this is a part of the mission,” Steven Kolb, CEO of the CFDA, told the room last night. “I like to think that we are the original young talent support program. We are proud to have set an example.”

In that vein, last year’s finalists Melitta Baumeister, Rachel Scott of Diotima, and Henry Zankov of Zankov were there to announce this year’s finalists: Sebastien Ami by Sebastien and Marianne Amisial, Kate Barton, Grace Ling, Connor McKnight, L’Enchanteur by Dynasty and Soull Ogun, Presley Oldham, Phipps by Spencer Phipps, 5000 by Taylor Thompson, Jane Wade, and Wiederhoeft by Jackson Wiederhoeft.

A spirited air ignited the room as designers felt optimistic: for their next chapters, and for what was to come. The partygoers, who included model Paloma Elsesser, Instagram’s Eva Chen, and a gaggle of designers, including Prabal Gurung, Alejandra Alonso Rojas, Jonathan Cohen, Edvin Thomspon, and Thom Browne, president of the CFDA, shared this feeling.

Given that Le Chalet is a late-night spot—many a boisterous fashion party has been hosted there—the crowd dutifully brought the fun. Extra-crispy French fries in CVFF-branded cones were passed around as cocktails circulated and Instagram stories and BFA photos were taken, showcasing the designers’ looks for the night. (ThinkPresley Oldham in his own artfully beaded necklaces, or Wiederhoeft looking snatched in a corset of his own creation.)

A couple of hours later, it was time to wrap it up—or was it? The party ran past the end time listed on the invitation. And, thankfully, Saks was in no rush to turn the lights back on. Cheers to 20 years of the CVFF!