Fashion Trust U.S. Awards Spotlight Sustainability, Grants Emerging Designers

At Nya Studios in Los Angeles, the fourth annual Fashion Trust U.S. Awards made its clearest case for the future of fashion: sustainability is no side note. Fashion Trust U.S. distributed $600,000 in financial support alongside mentorship, and the sustainability prize went to Maxwell Osborne and Kristy Chen of AnOnlyChild, the label known for reworking deadstock materials into modern designs.

That focus gave the night a sharper edge than a standard industry celebration. The room was draped in emerald, dinner came from Jon & Vinny’s, and Ego Nwodim kept the ceremony moving before Lykke Li performed. Against that polished backdrop, the award for AnOnlyChild felt especially pointed. Deadstock work can read as a buzzword when it is reduced to marketing copy, but Osborne and Chen’s win placed it in the same frame as the ready-to-wear, accessories, jewelry and graduate prizes, where the real pressure is turning good intentions into desirable clothes.

The full winner slate reflected how broad FTUS has become as a platform for emerging labels. Zane Li took ready-to-wear for LII, Andrea Marron won accessories, Josefina Baillères won jewelry, and Marcelle Barbosa’s Amaramara was named graduate winner. Fashion Trust U.S. also added a special innovation prize created with Type One Ventures, with Deborah Won of Pisces Rising taking the Type One Ventures and Lanvin Group Future Form award. It was the kind of roster that suggests the industry is no longer looking only for polish; it is also looking for new systems, new materials and a credible path to scale.

The ceremony also doubled as a salute to fashion’s established names. Tory Burch was honored as Designer of the Year, with Pamela Anderson introducing her as “creative, courageous, inspiring” and “a visionary designer and fearless advocate for women.” Michèle Lamy received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Design and Culture and used her moment to frame creativity as collective force. Her line, “We really want to change the world. We will,” landed as a rallying cry in a room full of founders, designers and power players, from Dove Cameron and Julia Fox to Olivia Wilde, Jodie Turner-Smith and Melissa McCarthy.

Behind the glamour, the mechanics mattered too. Finalists were shown earlier that day at The West Hollywood Edition, and the winners were chosen by a judging panel that included the FTUS board, advisory board and Google representatives. Tania Fares has built Fashion Trust U.S. into something more useful than a trophy circuit: a funding and mentorship engine that is helping early-stage designers turn strong point of view into durable businesses, with sustainability now firmly inside that mandate.