FORWARD(FWRD) has joined forces with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and created the "Rising Talent Program," which focuses on supporting a select group of emerging designers by providing mentorship workshops and buying into their collections. The aim is to help these talents achieve their next stage of growth. We are proud to welcome designers Ryan Roche, Brother Vellies, Jonathan Simkhai, The Elder Statesman, and Nick Fouquet into the program.
Ready-to-wear designer Ryan Roche is inspired by her dreamy, vibrant childhood beneath the Idaho skies. Roche has a deft yet delicate hand with Knitwear and is known for her harmonious relationship to color. She is committed to supporting responsible manufacturing via sustainable low-impact production & has worked with a woman's cooperative in Nepal for the last decade, whilst also supporting American manufacturing.
Based in New York, Jonathan Simkhai launched his eponymous luxury ready-to-wear brand in 2010. Through designs that seek to embolden women with confidence and sensuality, the brand represents modern versality. As a 2015 winner of the prestigious CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, Jonathan Simkhai continues to redefine the 21st-century wardrobe and reinvigorate American fashion.
The Elder Statesman is an L.A.-based luxury lifestyle label by Greg Chait. Since 2007, it has expanded from a series of custom blankets to women's and men's ready-to-wear collections, woven accessories, home goods and more. The Elder Statesmen is defined by the design principles of exceptional quality and craftsmanship, yet with a signature refined ease and soul.
Established in 2013, the Nick Fouquet brand has been a lifetime in the making, infused tried and trusted methods of American hat-making with a new bohemian sensibility, and garnering instant acclaim from the fashion world (French Vogue, GQ) for its unparalleled craftsmanship and bold Keith Richards-meets Huck Finn-meets the
Brother Vellies was founded by Aurora James with the goal of introducting the rest of the world to her favorite traditional African footwear, while also creating and sustaining artisanal jobs within Africa. Handmade in South Africa, Kenya, aand Morocco, Brother Vellies creates shoes in styles that maintain the spirit and durability of their ancestral counterparts.
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About the Rising Talent Program
The CFDA and FORWARD Rising Talent Program Focuses on providing up-and-coming designers with mentoring, insight, knowledge and feedback through a retail market lens, in order for them to achieve their next stage of growth. As part of the program, the FWRD team worked closely with the CFDA to select a handful of brands from across the U.S. to advise on best practices in today's industry across various verticals.
Juan Carlos Obando is a Los Angeles based womenswear and accessories brand founded in 2008. His work is defined by the powerful use of color and an unassuming approach to evening wear. Inspired in large part by the vibrant, sensual women he grew up around in his hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia, Obando's "own-the-night basics," as he describes them, fills a niche.
Max Osterweis first conceived Suno in 2008 after witnessing post-election violence in Kenya. Utilizing the vast collection of Kenyan Kangas he had gathered over years of traveling, Max joined forces with Erin Beatty, a Parsons graduate and designer, to launch a high-end collection with a conscience. Since its inception, Suno has evolved from its original African roots to include production in Kenya, India, Peru and its home base of New York.
Sisters-in-law Veronica Miele Beard and Veronica Swanson Beard launched their eponymous brand in the Fall of 2010 with their signature Dickey Jacket. Today Veronica Beard offers a modern perspective on iconic staples and results in a ready-to-wear collection that is hard wired for real life. These perfectly designed essentials are both effortless and chic, each piece mixing superior tailoring with the highest level of quality and fit.
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