CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund names 10 finalists for 2026 award race

A sequined lobster panty is not the kind of detail that slips quietly into a fashion fund presentation, and that is exactly why it matters. The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists arrived with a lineup that moved from oversized, structural silhouettes to dramatic tutus, polka-dot lace and capes stitched with pink lily appliqués, proof that the next label with real traction will need a point of view, not just a product.

The CFDA named Aisling Camps, Amir Taghi, Bad Binch TongTong, Emily Dawn Long, Jamie Haller, Juju Vera, Lii, Milamore, Miss Claire Sullivan and Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen as the 10 finalists for 2026 after the selection committee met at the CFDA offices on Monday, June 2. The first designer presentations followed on Wednesday, June 10, then Vogue and the CFDA marked the moment with a celebratory cocktail that evening in partnership with Nordstrom. The winner will receive $300,000, while the two runners-up will each take home $100,000.

The fund still matters because it has never been just about the money. Launched in 2003 in the aftermath of 9/11, the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund was built to give emerging designers mentorship, business guidance and visibility when they need it most. Since then, 200 designers have received mentoring and more than $8 million has been awarded. CFDA says 42% of the brands that have passed through the program are fully or partially women-owned, and 40% are fully or partially minority-owned, a record that gives the prize real industry weight.

Its alumni list reads like a map of where American fashion has gone in the past two decades: Proenza Schouler, Telfar, Thom Browne, Bode, Christopher John Rogers, Altuzarra, Sandy Liang and Wiederhoeft all moved through the program’s orbit. That makes this year’s finalists more than a temporary class; they are being positioned as possible next names in the same conversation, whether their strength is craft, commerce or a sharply defined silhouette.

Aisling Camps stands out as one of the clearest signals in the group. The Trinidadian-born designer studied mechanical engineering at Columbia University before moving to FIT and founding her knitwear label, a background that brings sustainability-minded thinking to a category often dismissed as cozy rather than rigorous. In a market that increasingly rewards technical fluency as much as aesthetic polish, that combination feels especially current.

The 2026 program is backed by Bloomingdale’s, Humane World for Animals, Instagram, Nordstrom and Vogue, another sign that the fund still sits at the intersection of retail, image and cultural reach. The final judgment arrives at a celebratory dinner in New York City on October 20, when one designer will walk away with the biggest check, and all 10 will be measured against the kind of American fashion history the fund has helped write before.