Amazon today announced that The Fashion Fund, an Amazon Unscripted Series, is now available for all Amazon customers in the U.S. The series follows the process of selecting designers for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, led by Vogue’s Anna Wintour and CFDA Chairman Diane von Furstenberg. The Fashion Fund is ad-supported and available free of charge to all Amazon customers via the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices including Fire TV, and mobile devices or online at Amazon.com/fashionfund.
Each year, 10 promising designers are nominated by the Fashion Fund committee and compete in a four-month-long competition to win a cash prize and a mentorship from an industry professional, with the goal of further developing their business. Produced by Condé Nast Entertainment and Break Thru Films, season three of The Fashion Fund takes viewers inside the 2015 competition.
In conjunction with the premiere of The Fashion Fund, Amazon Fashion will launch a content-rich, dedicated retail experience for customers to shop a curated selection of the Spring 2016 collections of this year’s designers all in one place, for the first time, at Amazon.com/fashionfundshop.
“We are thrilled to launch The Fashion Fund on Amazon Video, and to work with fashion icons Diane von Furstenberg and Anna Wintour,” said Michael Paull, Vice President, Digital Video, Amazon. “We’re going to continue to push the boundaries with our original content and look forward to bringing our customers even more exciting shows to watch.”
“Collaborating with Amazon enabled us to truly innovate and add a retail experience to The Fashion Fund, which will delight viewers,” said Dawn Ostroff, president of Condé Nast Entertainment. “CNE is a true next-generation studio, working with the best companies to deliver the most compelling, immersive storytelling experiences to our audiences, and Amazon, home to some of the best content, is the perfect match for this series.”
New episodes of the weekly, 10-episode, half-hour season of The Fashion Fund will be available Thursdays.
The Fashion Fund features the 2015 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund selection committee: Anna Wintour (Vogue), Diane von Furstenberg (CFDA, DVF Studio, LLC), Steven Kolb (CFDA), Ken Downing (Neiman Marcus), Mark Holgate (Vogue), Jeffrey Kalinsky (Jeffrey New York, Nordstrom), Reed Krakoff, Jenna Lyons (J.Crew), Andrew Rosen (Theory) and Marcus Wainwright & David Neville (rag & bone), as well as the 2015 finalists: Scott Studenberg and John Targon (Baja East), Matt Baldwin (Baldwin), Aurora James (Brother Vellies), Brad Schmidt and Raul Arevalo (Cadet), Chris Gelinas (CG), Becca McCharen (Chromat), David Hart (David Hart & Co.), Rio Uribe (Gypsy Sport), Jonathan Simkhai and Thaddeus O’Neil. Executive Producers are Ricki Stern, Annie Sundberg, Dawn Ostroff, Michael Klein, Christiane Mack and Joe LaBracio.
About the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund
The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund was established in 2003 to help emerging American design talent find continued success in the business of fashion. With growing industry support, the prize was raised to $400,000 for the winner and $150,000 to the two runners-up in 2015. It is expected that the awards will be used to further develop each designer’s business in such areas as marketing, public relations, production and sales. In addition to the cash prizes, the award also includes mentorship from an esteemed group of industry professionals whose expertise is tailored to the designers’ needs and future goals. Past mentors include Howard Socol, Rose Marie Bravo, Millard “Mickey” Drexler, Mark Lee, Maureen Chiquet and Domenico de Sole.
Since its inception, the program has granted $5.2 million to over 30 design companies, including winners Brother Vellies, Gypsy Sport, Jonathan Simkhai, Paul Andrew, Public School, The Elder Statesman, Altuzarra, Billy Reid, Sophie Theallet, Alexander Wang, Rogan, and Proenza Schouler and runners-up Eva Fehren, Ryan Roche, Marc Alary, Juan Carlos Obando, Jennifer Meyer, Tabitha Simmons, Pamela Love, Creatures of the Wind, Eddie Borgo, Prabal Gurung, Monique Péan, Patrik Ervell, Albertus Swanepoel, Vena Cava, Philip Crangi, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Rodarte, Thakoon, Thom Browne, Derek Lam, and Alexandre Plokhov.
In 2007, the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund created a separate Business Advisory Committee to review the applications of the ten CVFF Finalists (independently of the Selection Committee) with the intent of providing a more focused business perspective and targeted feedback on the designers’ future potential in the business. The Business Advisory Committee will also be available to the seven finalists (who are not chosen as a winner / runner-up) as an on-going resource for mentoring, questions & answers and guidance.
