Open for industry appointments over the following two days, the showroom marks a first for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund: All ten of this year’s finalists have made the trip to Paris together, thanks to the generous support of Sarofim. They are Aisling Camps; Amir Taghi; Bad Binch Tongtong’s Terrence Zhou; Emily Dawn Long; Jamie Haller; Juju Vera’s Julia Ferentinos; Lii’s Zane Li; Milamore’s George Inaki; Miss Claire Sullivan’s Claire Sullivan; and Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen.
“We all know that Americans have had a very historic path here in Paris, so you guys have a lot to live up to—so don’t screw it up,” Browne joked in his opening remarks, drawing laughter from a room full to the boiseries. Among the industry leaders gathered were Vogue’s Virginia Smith, Tonne Goodman, Hamish Bowles, Naomi Elizée, and Mai Morsch, as well as Rickie DeSole, Roopal Patel, and Julie Gilhart. Actors Cole Escola and Eve Hewson, stylist Danielle Goldberg, and model Iris Law were among the well-dressed crowd, too.
The room also held three former Fashion Fund winners: Brother Vellies’s Aurora James (who’s also a judge this year), Melitta Baumeister, and Kristopher Brock, who he is set to launch a new label soon. Previous finalists rounded out the sizable alumni contingent: Diotima’s Rachel Scott, Henry Zankov, Collina Strada’s Hillary Taymour, Kim Shui, LaQuan Smith, Scott Studenberg, Gigi Burris O’Hara, Luar’s Raul Lopez, and Libertine’s Johnson Hartig, who competed in the inaugural Fashion Fund back in 2004.
Beyond the Fashion Fund reunion, the broader CFDA community was out in force, with attendance from members Gabriela Hearst and Daniella Kallmeyer, joined by 2026 American Emerging Designer of the Year nominee Colleen Allen.“It’s really important that America is shown in the best way, and that’s why you’re here,” Browne concluded. “The world needs to see all the amazing, really distinct, diverse stories that you all have to tell, and that is what the ten of you really represent.”
With that, the room returned to the business of the evening. There were bises between friends old and new, and guests spilled onto the narrow balconies at sunset with slices of opera cake and dry martinis and French-gin Negronis in hand. For the designers, it was a brief chance to exhale and enjoy the buzz of the city before a full weekend of appointments.
