Virgil Abloh, Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia among the CFDA's 14 new designers

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Jul 24, 2017

The CFDA announced on Monday 14 new additions to the organization, bringing its total membership to 517 members.

 
The new members include Virgil Abloh of Off-White; Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia of Monse and Oscar de la Renta; Stirling Barrett of Krewe; Andrea Fohrman; Chloe Gosselin; Pyer Moss’ Kerby Jean-Raymond; Julia Jenztsch; Chris Leba of R13; Becca McCharen-Tran of Chromat; Monica Sordo; Temple St. Clair; Wwake’s Wing Yin Yau; and Bonnie Young of By. Bonnie Young.
 
Many of the 14 new members have worked with the CFDA on a collection or as part of a competition. Stirling Barrett and Chloe Gosselin have competed in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, and Becca McCharen-Tran is currently participating in the competition, Kerby Jean-Raymond was part of the Woolmark US Prize competition in 2016, and Laura Kim, Fernando Garcia and Virgil Abloh have been nominated for CFDA Awards.

The CFDA Board of Directors ratified the addition of the 14 designers during a meeting at the CFDA Bleecker Street headquarters in NoHo. The Admissions Committee recommended selected candidates for membership to the Board of Directors, which reviewed submissions and ratified the decisions.
 
In order to become a member of the CFDA, candidates must be American citizens designing in the US or abroad, or foreign nationals with businesses headquartered in the US.
 
“The organization is very proud to add the 2017 New Members to our roster,” said Lisa Smilor, Executive Vice President of the CFDA. “Each of these 14 designers stood out to the Admissions Committee and Board of Directors as uniquely and extremely talented.”