The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), founded in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert, and

headquarter Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...

ed in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, is a

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association partic ...

comprising a membership of over 450 American

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...

and accessory designers. The organization promotes American designers in the global economy. In addition to hosting the annual CFDA Fashion Awards, the organization develops future American design talent through scholarships and resources in high schools, colleges, and

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...

schools. The CFDA also provides funding and business opportunities for working designers. Through the CFDA Foundation, the organization supports charitable causes.

History

The first president of the CFDA was Sydney Wragge (from 1962 until 1965). Steven Kolb is the CEO and president since 2006. As of June 2019, Tom Ford is the group's chairman; he follows Diane von Furstenberg who served as chairman for 13 years. The following people were founding members of the CFDA, from 1962:

CFDA Fashion Awards

The CFDA Fashion Awards was founded in 1980 with the first awards in 1981 and honors excellence in

fashion design Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...

. The CFDA Fashion Awards is an organized event created by the Council of Fashion Designers of

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. They honor and showcase the excellence in fashion design in America. It has been called " the Oscars of fashion". Prior to the establishment of the CFDA Awards, the

Coty Award The Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards (awarded 1943–1984) were created in 1942 by the cosmetics and perfume company Coty, Inc. to promote and celebrate American fashion, and encourage design during the Second World War. In 1985, the Coty Aw ...

s filled a similar role until they ended in 1985, with the final Coty Awards given in September 1984. In 1997, the CFDA Awards made a decision to open its doors to younger and upcoming designers. Nominations are submitted by the Fashion Guild, a group of over 1,500 CFDA members including fashion editors, retailers, and stylists. Award winners are determined by vote and announced at an annual black tie event held at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

, in

. Award winners receive a trophy made by the New York firm Society Awards. For the 2022 edition

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

Fashion sponsored the event.

Collaborations

In 2010, the CFDA/

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

Fashion Fund finalists

Monique Péan Monique Péan (born c. 1981) is an American artist whose practice is focused on fine jewelry, sculpture, painting and furniture. Her studio is based in New York City. Her work explores themes of space, temporality, identity, and origins, and mak ...

, Patrik Ervell, and Sophie Theallet teamed up with

Gap Inc. The Gap, Inc., commonly known as Gap Inc. or Gap (stylized as GAP), is an American worldwide clothing and accessories retailer. Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The c ...

In 2012 and 2013 the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winners and runners-up each created capsule collections with J. Crew. In celebration of the organization's 50th Anniversary, Target and

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...

partnered with 24 CFDA members to create a special holiday collection that was available at both retailers. Additionally, the CFDA has partnered with Kohl's on designer collaborations such as Derek Lam for Kohl's and most recently, Catherine Malandrino for Kohl's. On October 3, 2013, the CFDA and

Google+ Google+ (pronounced and sometimes written as Google Plus; sometimes called G+) was a social network owned and operated by Google. The network was launched on June 28, 2011, in an attempt to challenge other social networks, linking other Google p ...

launched an innovative shopping tool, titled "Shoppable Hangouts", where users had the ability to shop Hangouts on Air (HOA). The CFDA kicked off the product launch with CFDA President Diane von Fürstenberg.

Rachel Zoe Rachel Zoe Rosenzweig (born September 1, 1971) is an American fashion designer, businesswoman and author who rose to prominence as a celebrity wardrobe stylist. She has been credited with the creation of "the boho-meets-rock chic look that came ...

, Marcus Wainwright and David Neville of rag & bone, and Rebecca Minkoff also participated in the Shoppable Hangout experience.

Programs

CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund

The CFDA and ''Vogue'' Magazine have created an endowment for the stated purpose of funding significant financial awards to one or more designers and provide business mentoring. Awarded recipients are selected by a committee of industry experts. The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Selection Committee annually selects three emerging fashion designers, who receive: # Business mentoring from an established team of fashion industry professionals, in areas such as business planning, marketing, sourcing, production, exporting etc. # To encourage and enable the recipients to pursue his/her own independent design plan (one winner at $300,000 and two runners-up at $100,000 each). Notable past finalists include: * 2014: Paul Andrew (Winner), Wes Gordon, Edie Parker and Simon Miller * 2015: Becca McCharen-Tran of Chromat; Rio Uribe of Gypsy Sport (Winner) * 2017: Chromat: Becca McCharen-Tran (Runner Up), Telfar Clemens (Winner) * 2018: Kerby Jean-Raymond (Winner))

CFDA program

The CFDA is a business development program designed to support the next generation of fashion designers in New York City. The program provides a creative professional environment with the mission of helping to grow and sustain the businesses of the 10 participating brands over the course of the two-year program. By offering low-cost design studio space, business mentoring, educational seminars, and networking opportunities, the program provides a way for participants to reach their full potential and become an integral part of the New York Fashion community. In 2010, the program partnered with New York University's Stern School of Business to create a Masters Workshop that pairs their top MBA Students with the designers to work on business development projects. Successful alumni of the Incubator program include

Prabal Gurung Prabal Gurung ( ne, प्रवल गुरुङ) (born 1979) is a Singapore–born Nepalese–American fashion designer based in New York City. Early life and education Gurung was born on March 31, 1979, in Singapore to Nepali parents an ...

and the 2013 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winners, Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne of Public School. The 4.0 class (2016-2018) of the includes Alexandra Alvarez of Alix, Aurora James of Brother Vellies, Charles Youssef, Daniel DuGoff of Ddugoff, Tim Joo and Dan Joo of Haerfest, Jason Alkire and Julie Alkire of Haus Alkire, Ji Oh, Katie deGuzman and Michael Miller of K/ller Collection, Thaddeus O’Neil, and Molly Yestadt of Yestadt Millinery.

Fashion Manufacturing Initiative

The Fashion Manufacturing Initiative (FMI) is an investment fund to help revitalize New York City's garment industry. The program offers matching financial grants to New York City's fashion manufacturing production facilities. In March 2018, the CFDA and NYCA announced that the following seven production facilities would receive a combined total of $480,000 in the fifth round of FMI grants: Atelier Amelia, Sunrise Studio, In Style USA, Mudo Fashion, New York Embroidery Studio, Season Wash, and Werkstatt.

Fashion Targets Breast Cancer

Fashion Targets Breast Cancer® (FTBC), a charitable initiative of the CFDA/CFDA Foundation, seeks to raise public awareness and funds for the

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

cause. The Fashion Targets Breast Cancer name and symbol were created by

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his c ...

and subsequently entrusted to the CFDA Foundation. FTBC was first presented in the U.S. in the spring of 1994 during

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general pub ...

, and was formally launched in September 1994 at a special White House reception hosted by then-First Lady

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

. During this initial campaign, 400,000 FTBC shirts were sold, raising $2 million to benefit the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Health at the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center. This center was chosen as beneficiary at Ralph Lauren's request, in memory of his friend Nina Hyde, the former fashion editor of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', who died of

in 1990. Since 2011, the council has led an annual campaign to promote the initiative and partners with well known fashion icons. In 2017, Fabletics partnered with Fashion Targets Breast Cancer to produce an activewear collection. A portion of all sales for the collection would be donated to target breast cancer screening and treatment. To date, nearly $50 million has been granted to breast cancer charities worldwide from FTBC campaigns. CFDA Members have designed special FTBC branded or inspired merchandise, which was either sold or auctioned over the course of the campaign.

CFDA Scholarship Program

The CFDA scholarship program was created to award annual merit-based scholarship grants to students who study in a four-year, full-time college level design program. It has awarded $1,399,250 to students. The Geoffrey Beene Design Scholarship Award, the Liz Claiborne Design Scholarship Award, and the CFDA/Teen Vogue Scholarship Award in partnership with Target selected scholars from one of the CFDA's 20 participating design schools and donated $25,000 towards tuition and educational expenses. The awards are based solely on merit and judged by a panel of industry experts.

Current members

Notable CFDA Members include: * Tom Ford * Gladys Tamez *

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, an ...

Michael Kors Michael David Kors (born Karl Anderson Jr. August 9, 1959) is an American fashion designer. He is the chief creative officer of his brand, Michael Kors, which sells men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, watches, jewelry, footwear, and f ...

Alexander Wang (designer) Alexander Wang (born December 26, 1983) is an American fashion designer. Wang launched his Alexander Wang fashion brand in 2005 and came to prominence after being awarded the CFDA/''Vogue'' Fashion Fund in 2008. From November 2012 through July ...

Vera Wang Vera Ellen Wang (; born June 27, 1949) is an American fashion designer. Early life Vera Ellen Wang was born June 27, 1949 in New York City to Chinese parents who emigrated to the United States in the mid-1940s. Her mother, Florence Wu (Wu ...

Diane von Fürstenberg Diane von Fürstenberg (born Diane Simone Michele Halfin, 31 December 1946) is a Belgians, Belgian fashion designer best known for her wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence in 1969 when she married into the German princely House of Fürst ...

Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( /hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upst ...

* Gabriela Hearst *

Publications

The CFDA has published the following books, listed in order by publish date: * ''American Fashion Home'' * ''American Travel'' * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

*
2008 CFDA Photo Gallery

CFDA on The Sche Report
{{Coord, 40.726267, -73.995138, display=title Arts organizations established in 1962 Fashion awards Fashion organizations Lifetime achievement awards