After a whirlwind four months that included studio visits, fashion challenges, collaborations, and fashion show out in the west coast, the winner of the 2017 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund is Liberian-American Telfar Clemens. The Queens(NY) born designer of the brand Telfar, which was founded in 2005, will take home the $400,000 prize along with mentorship with an industry leader of their choice.
Chromat, founded in 2010 by Becca McCharen-Tran, and Ahlem, founded in 2014 by Ahlem Manai-Platt, took home the runner-up prizes of $150,000 each. Telfar makes unisex clothes for the socially savvy shopper. According to Vogue, “during the CVFF fashion show his designs were modeled by voguers to the delight of the celebrity front row at the Chateau Marmont, and he aced the Instagram challenge by highlighting the next generation of Telfar lovers, hashtag #telfarbambimo. Outside of the CVFF, Clemens has long taken a unique approach to his brand. Rather than collaborate with an up-and-coming label or musician, he teamed with White Castle on uniforms, and created a capsule collection for Century 21’s new in-store shop Next Century.”
Check out photos from Monday’s 2017 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards
Teyana Taylor and Anna Wintour
Taylor Hill
Lais Ribeiro
Lauren Santo Domingo (Moda Operandi)
Paloma Elsesser
Nicki Minaj, Alexander Wang
Last month, Telfar hosted a bash at The Well in Brooklyn to celebrate his new unisex-uniform collaboration for fast food chain White Castle’s nearly 400 locations and 10,000 team members nationwide!
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photo credit: Corey Tenold via Vogue
