The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and Vogue announced the finalists for their 11th annual Fashion Fund on Wednesday evening. And, they are: Wes Gordon; Ryan Roche; Brett Heyman of Edie Parker; Eva Zuckerman of Eva Fehren; Gigi Burris of Gigi Burris Millinery; Natalie Levy and Grant Krajecki of Grey Ant; Matt Orley, Alex Orley, and Samantha Florence of Orley; Paul Andrew; Daniel Corrigan and Jake Sargent of Simon Miller; and Tanya Taylor. Taylor tweeted that she “[c]ouldn’t be more honored to be part of this group [blessed hands].” And, Zuckerman posted, “Tonight was a good night.” We bet!
Selected by Steven Kolb, Diane von Furstenberg, Anna Wintour, Jenna Lyons, Andrew Rosen, Reed Krakoff, Ken Downing, David Neville, Marcus Wainwright, Mark Holgate, and Jeffrey Kalinsky, each brand is competing for a reported $300,000 award, and two runner-ups will receive $100,000. But, before the winner is named on November 3, the designers must meet with the selection committee and “participate in a design challenge underwritten by Maybelline New York,” according to Women’s Wear Daily. The CFDA site adds, “A fashion show featuring several looks by each finalist will take place at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles in October, with the support of online retailer partner thecorner.com.”
The entire process is set to be documented for Ovation TV’s The Fashion Fund. Who’ll be auf-ed first? Oh, is that not the same show?