The Council of Fashion Designers of America and Vogue have named ten finalists for the 2026 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, the American fashion industry's longest-running business-development award for emerging designers, according to the CFDA. The finalists will compete for a $300,000 grand prize and two $100,000 runner-up grants, with the winner announced October 20 at a gala dinner in New York, per Fashionista's reporting on the announcement.
The 2026 class spans ready-to-wear, jewelry and accessories labels:
- Aisling Camps
- Amir Taghi
- Terrence Zhou of Bad Binch TongTong
- Emily Dawn Long
- Jamie Haller
- Julia Ferentinos of Juju Vera
- Zane Li of Lii
- George Inaki of Milamore
- Claire Sullivan of Miss Claire Sullivan
- Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen
All ten finalists receive a season of structured mentorship from CFDA members and retail partners, run alongside a series of business challenges rather than a single runway presentation. The first is the Material Innovation Challenge, sponsored this year by Humane World for Animals, a first-time partner for the fund. Designers made their initial presentation to the selection committee on June 10; the grand-prize winner and two runners-up are set to be named at the October 20 dinner.
The selection committee evaluates that work on design point of view and business viability rather than show spectacle, weighing sourcing, pricing and production capacity alongside the collections themselves. This year's panel includes CFDA chairman Thom Browne, Brother Vellies designer Aurora James, Vogue's Nicole Phelps and Chloe Malle, Instagram's Eva Chen, model Paloma Elsesser, designer Christopher John Rogers, Bloomingdale's Denise Magid and Nordstrom's Yumi Shin — a mix of editors, retailers and past winners that reflects the fund's dual mandate of taste and commerce.
The fund was established in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks to stabilize a shaken American fashion industry, and it has since distributed more than $8 million in grants and mentoring hours to roughly 200 designers, according to the CFDA. About 42 percent of participating brands are fully or partially women-owned and 40 percent are fully or partially minority-owned. Its alumni roster includes Proenza Schouler, Thom Browne, Telfar and Christopher John Rogers, houses whose principals now sit on the committee vetting this year's applicants.
Last year's prize went to Ashlynn Park of the New York label Ashlyn, who took the $300,000 top award a week after winning the CFDA's Google Shopping American Emerging Designer of the Year honor; runners-up Julian Louie of Aubero and Stephanie Suberville of Heirlome each received $100,000, Fashionista reported. Park's win, on a zero-waste, minimalist tailoring program built since 2020, is the kind of trajectory the fund is designed to accelerate: a small label with a defined point of view, given capital and introductions rather than a marketing budget. For the 2026 field, the fund's payout is modest next to an outside investment round, but it comes bundled with something a term sheet does not: a built-in mentor bench, production and retail introductions, and a press spotlight timed to the fall show season, when buyers are already scouting the next names to stock. The October 20 dinner will show whether the committee again rewards a single-minded design premise over a broader commercial pitch, or the reverse.
For a related designers perspective, read How the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Actually Picks Its Winner.
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