Meet The CFDA+ 2018 Design Graduates

For the sixth edition of CFDA+ we introduce 60 selected talents entering the fashion system empowered by education. Today, in fashion as in life, change is one among few certainties. As our industry expands, and cultures shift, a new creative landscape is being co-created in tandem with a persistent desire to preserve heritage and legacy.

“The 60 CFDA+ 2018 Design Graduates are a true creative class curated to represent a generation of designers who are inventing new codes of fashion and questioning the traditional role of designer,” said Sara Kozlowski, CFDA’s Director of Education + Professional Development. “Individually they have unique approaches to materials and processes and diverse specialization- based strengths. Collectively, their ‘Creativity GPS’ is centered at the intersection of change, innovation, craft, and awareness.”

The CFDA is proud to continue working with Eyes on Talents and its founder Floriane de Saint Pierre for this year’s CFDA+ program.

“Eyes on Talents is pleased to join forces with the CFDA+ for the fourth year, and contribute to the exposure of the 60 selected international graduates to help them kick-start their career,” de Saint Pierre said.

With a 360-degree view to the future, who better to navigate this change than tomorrow’s talent?

Listening to the CFDA+ 2018 Design Graduates’ voices within interviews, their comfort with agility and transformation impressed us. While each possesses strengths in viable design specializations, they also display a vision for fashion’s future that extends far beyond commerce and product.

As our worlds change, so does the role of designer. Each CFDA+ 2018 Design Graduate was presented with a simple provocation, to assign themselves a new title, as replacement to the traditional title of “fashion designer” – self identifying as curators, catalysts, and even scientists.

Together their responses amalgamated into six underlying themes: The Ambassadors, The Anthropologists, The Authenticists, The Futurists, The Specialists, and The Visionaries.

In addition to CFDA+ the CFDA also supports the next generation of fashion through Fashion Future Graduate Showcase, an annual pop up exhibition and digital portfolio platform created in partnership with NYCEDC. For more information on FFGS18 talent, the CFDA+ 2018 Talent Book, and the profiles of each CFDA+ 2018 Design Graduate, check out the CFDA website.

Author: Sara Kozlowski, CFDA