Meet the new Fashion Fund judges

The 2019 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund has two new judges that we’re excited about!

Model Paloma Elsesser and Vogue.com Fashion News Director Chioma Nnadi are joining the Selection Committee to help determine this years 10 finalists, and, ultimately, the winner and two runners-up.

Elsesser has been making a statement for body positivity on fashion runways, stunning in such shows as Maryam Nassir Zadeh and Eckhaus Latta. “Some girls,” as she puts it in her Instagram bio, “are bigger than others.”

Nnadi, meanwhile, has, in recent years, has become a powerful advocate for inclusivity and diversity in our industry. Prior to Vogue, the London native, who is of Nigerian and Swiss-German descent, was at Fader, Trace, and London’s Evening Standard.

“I’ve always been super energized by the quest for what’s new and what’s next in fashion, even long before I worked in the industry,” Nnadi said. “I also think it’s a real privilege for a designer at any level to open up their door and let you in on their process, so I’m really excited at the prospect of doing that with whole new generation of American talent.”

They join the other members of the Selection Committee, who are Joseph Altuzarra, Eva Chen, Mark Holgate, Jeffrey Kalinsky, Steven Kolb, Roopal Patel, Andrew Rosen, Diane von Furstenberg, and Anna Wintour.

The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund (CVFF), which was established in 2003 to help emerging designers, launched many significant fashion careers, including those of past winners such as Proenza Schouler, the recipient of the inaugural fund in 2004, Alexander Wang (2008), Altuzarra (2011), The Elder Statesman (2012), Brock Collection (2016), Telfar (2017), and, last year, Pyer Moss.

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