CFDA+ 2016
The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) is proud to introduce the CFDA+ 2016 Design Graduates. The 51 talents represent the best graduates selected among 240+ applications from 30 leading fashion schools around the world. They are ready to take their first steps into fashion’s global landscape, and designers looking to make new hires can view their portfolios on CFDA.com. Representing 14 nationalities, the CFDA+ 2016 Design Graduates are creatively diverse with unique perspectives and specializations in Womenswear, Menswear, Accessories, Jewelry, Textiles and Knitwear. The CFDA+ mark of distinction celebrates exemplary global graduate talent. CFDA+ has also partnered with EyesonTalents, Floriane de Saint Pierre’s innovative platform, to highlight the program and provide global visibility to the CFDA+ 2016 Design Graduates. The Design Graduates’ profiles have also been shared with the CFDA’s 500+ Membership. CFDA+ is a virtual talent lab and a mark of distinction. The CFDA+ platform strengthens the transition between education and industry. Aware of the challenges graduates often face as they embark on their professional journeys, CFDA+ celebrates the creativity and design diversity of high caliber, early phase emerging talent within the specializations of Apparel, Accessories, Jewelry, Textiles and Knitwear by providing exposure-based endorsement. Preview five top talents from the global class of 2016: Jen Lee, Parsons School of Design, New York; Jennifer Dols, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp; Sergiy Grechyshkin, Central Saint Martins, London; Stefanie Tschirky, Royal College of Art, London; and Yasemin Cakli, University of Westminster, London. Visit CFDA.com to meet all of the CFDA+ 2016 Design Graduates and discover their potential.
51 CFDA+ DESIGNERS Adam Dalton Blake Rhode Island School of Design Alina Nikolaenko Central Saint Martins Allison Morgan Rhode Island School of Design Alyson Blanchette Tobin London College of Fashion Amy Yip Academy of Art University Andrea Rosales-Balcarcel Pratt Institute Andrea Saieh Parsons School of Design Andrea Vicens-Clavell Savannah College of Art & Design Andrew Steven Totah Central Saint Martins Angel Muktan Savannah College of Art & Design Annie Li Parsons School of Design Aya Takeshima Central Saint Martins Benjamin Waters Central Saint Martins Christopher John Rogers Savannah College of Art & Design Derek Cheng Central Saint Martins Elizabeth Siedow Academy of Art University
Erin Mccarty Pratt Institute Franky Tran School of the Art Institute of Chicago Ghazaleh Khalifeh Academy of Art University Han Wen Parsons School of Design Hyun Oh Royal College of Art Jack Alexander School of the Art Institute of Chicago Jack Byne University of Westminster Jackson Wiederhoeft Parsons School of Design Jadi Haynes Academy of Art University Jen Lee Parsons School of Design Jennifer Dols Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp Janny Jingyi Ye Central Saint Martins Kailu Guan Parsons School of Design Liam O’Sullivan University of Westminster Lisa Krulasik Pratt Institute Madison Li Parsons School of Design
Min Su Kim Parsons School of Design Molly Kirchoff Parsons School of Design Moon Choi Parsons School of Design Namrata Bhandari Academy of Art University Noa Loewald Hu School of the Art Institute of Chicago Samuel Beumont-Perkins Northumbria University Sara Kiani Central Saint Martins Sergiy Grechyshkin Central Saint Martins Sophie Cooper Arts University Bournemouth Sophie Thoerner Savannah College of Art & Design Stefanie Tschirky Royal College of Art Sydney Catherine Benda Savannah College of Art & Design Tiffany Huang Parsons School of Design Victoria Aguilar Pratt Institute Vilde Sorum London College of Fashion Yasemin Cakli University of Westminster
Zachary Cyganek Savannah College of Art & Design Zuoyu Shi Parsons School of Design
JEN LEE
Parsons School of Design graduate Jen Lee’s thesis, A Post Marked Archive, began with research into the art of collecting and archiving to document time, travel, and authenticity. Fascinated by her mother’s stamp collection, she developed a system of wearables transforming packaging to clothes in seconds, creating impactful studies of minimalist form and efficiency. The collection was sponsored by Hugo Boss and earned recognition by Kering’s Empowering Imagination, featured on Vogue.com. Prior to graduation, Lee held accessories design internships at The Row and KARA as well as Stella McCartney in wholesale sales. “I’ve been lucky to gain valuable experience through each internship,” she says. “For me, a big takeaway was learning how to collaborate, and the value that each person brings to a team.” In 2015, she was a CFDA Scholarship recipient and Joe’s Blackbook scholarship winner. Lee strives to create clothing with meaning. Her design ethos is underpinned by responsible innovation and sustainable idealism – employing iterative processes with holistic consideration to material lifecycles and production impacts.
JENNIFER DOLS Jennifer Dols is a fashion designer and artist from Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts with both a BA and MA in fashion. A true global citizen and creative ambassador, Illinois-born and North Carolina-raised Dols moved to New York to study at New York University, graduating with honors and a BFA in Studio Art, Sculpture. After graduation, she broke into the fashion industry at Marc by Marc Jacobs, working as a design assistant for two years before moving to Belgium in 2011. Blending skills, processes, and theories from her art and fashion practices, Dols’ design ethos is an intersection of art and fashion culture with a vision to collaborate and innovate. Her recent collections focus on the emotions, dynamic personalities, and attitudes of women. While in Antwerp, she produced three collections influenced by art, music, and architecture, studying under course leader Walter Van Beirendonck. Dols’ Master collection is a modernized version of Jean Cocteau’s 1946 La Belle et La Bête and was awarded the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Mode Award 2016. The collection, which was featured in Dazed Digital, Vogue Italia, i.D. Vice and Nederlands and presented during Prague Fashion Week SS17 with WE’RE NEXT and London Fashion Week SS17, was “intended to create tension between our preconceptions of dress and new codes of the unknown.” Looking to the future, “opportunity for change within the fashion industry is everywhere. I love the power of fashion. I want to share my imagination and make clothes people can relate to, use, love, and dream,” says Dols.
STEFANIE TSCHIRKY Stefanie Tschirky is a MA Womenswear graduate of the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London and has worked for fashion brands in England, the United States, and Switzerland. Tschirky’s collection was presented at London Fashion Week and selected as a finalist for ITS 2016. Influenced by contemporary architecture and mathematical theories, each piece is a three-dimensional study of geometric form and dynamic structure challenging the norm of conventional silhouettes. Prior to the RCA, Tschirky received a BA in Womenswear from London’s Kingston University and completed placements at Old Navy and Felder & Felder. Her work experience provided exposure to all areas of the fashion system, including research, production, materials, distribution, brand, and management. The RCA has shaped Tschirky’s design identity into a mature design thinker and futurist. “My design world is driven to find the beautiful, ordered and unpredictable moments of complexity in the study of the field of mathematics,” she says. For Tschirky, collaboration is king, and recently, she co-created concepts within a team of mathematicians, dancers and classical singers. While she hasn’t created a definitive blueprint for her future, she intends to continue her professional journey. “I am looking forward to being a part of a fashion brand in the industry surrounded by trend makers, visionaries and knowledge,” shares Tschirky.
SERGIY GRECHYSHKIN
Photo credit: Nikolay Biryukov
Born in Kiev, Sergiy Grechyshkin’s first career was in finance. After six years working as a banker, Grechyshkin reset his professional GPS, leaving his job in Ukraine to study at London’s Central Saint Martins (CSM). His visionary approach to shape-making and texture combinations shows the influence of his experiences in Paris at Lanvin and Louis Vuitton within the womenswear and leather goods divisions. Grechyshkin is the 2015 LVMH Grand Prix Scholar, a distinction that provided support for his CSM graduate collection created with Sophie Hallette lace sponsorship. His introspective collection masters the juxtaposition of transparency, restrictive forms, and feminine drape techniques. While his design ethos and approach are conceptual and imaginative, his view of the business of fashion is pragmatic, striving to build experience first within a brand. “It is quite difficult to launch a brand straight after graduation as it requires business knowledge and financial backing and first years all profits are re-invested towards growth,” he says. “American fashion has a large global influence and is a large, modern, innovative business landscape. It opens many possibilities for young brands through its diversity and global influence.”
YASEMIN CAKLI Menswear designer Yasemin Cakli is a graduate of London’s University of Westminster with work experience at Adidas and ck Calvin Klein. Cakli is a creative technical specialist with a love of innovation, functional details, and hi-tech materials that enhance body performance and movement. “Working at Adidas made me think differently about the construction of garments based on the specific sports requirements,” Cakli says. “I have played sports all my life and spent most of my teenage years on the football pitch. My love for sportswear was influenced by the maledominant sport and this is why I am always attracted to street subcultures. The unity and uniform is the same in both areas.” For Cakli, research begins with vintage garments, exploring details, construction, and materials as inspiration for styling: “I deconstruct and manipulate the piece to create new forms and shapes. This is what excites me about menswear -- the ability to make the old into something new.” The Westminster collection was inspired by the distinctive style of the Cholombianos, a Mexican urban subculture. Elements in Cholombiano culture, particularly religious iconography and unique hand gestures, were used to transform this ‘secret’ language into cyanotype prints. Materials such as canvas, nylon and sweat shirting have been transformed through hand-dyeing. Intricate beaded neck pieces are added to show an individual’s identity.
SELECTION COMMITTEE Piotrek Panszczyk, Area Beckett Fogg, Area Sarah Blair, Barneys New York Brandon Maxwell, Brandon Maxwell Kristy Caylor, Cerci Michael Colovos, Colovos Henry Zankov, Diane von Furstenberg Rio Uribe, Gypsy Sport Tess Giberson, Lane Bryant Lisa Salzer, Lulu Frost Pamela Love, Pamela Love Thomas Chen, Prabal Gurung Britt Cosgrove, SVILU Marina Polo, SVILU Thi Wan, Thom Browne Wendy Lu, Tory Burch
PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA Arts University Bournemouth Poole, UK California College of the Arts San Francisco, CA Central Saint Martins| London, UK Columbia College of Chicago Chicago, IL Drexel University | Philadelphia, PA
Fashion Institute of Technology New York, NY Institut Francais de la Mode | Paris, FR International Fashion Academy | Paris, FR Kent State University | Kent, OH London College of Fashion | London, UK Marist College | Poughkeepsie, NY Massachusetts College of Art and Design Boston, MA Miami International University of Art & Design Miami, FL Northumbria University | Newcastle, UK Parsons School of Design | New York, NY Pratt Institute | Brooklyn, NY Rhode Island School of Design | Providence, RI Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp Belgium, DE Royal College of Art | London, UK Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah, GA School of the Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL Shenkar College of Engineering and Design Ramat Gan, IL Stephens College | Columbia, MO University for the Creative Arts Rochester England, UK University of Cincinnati | Cincinnati, OH University of Salford | England, UK University of Westminster | London, UK Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA
AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS 3.1 Phillip Lim Leather Sponsorship AATCC Textile Design Competition Accessories Council Next Generation Award Amazon Fashion Studio Sessions Arts of Fashion Foundation Competition Avery Dennison Denim Branding Competition BCI Fur Sponsorship British Fashion Council Bursary BoF 6 BA CSM Graduates to Watch CFDA Scholarship Award CFDA/Teen Vogue Scholarship in Partnership with Target Cotton Inc. Competition EcoChic Design Award Eileen Fisher Award for Sustainable Design Emily Burnett & Saga Furs Scholarship Eyes on Talents Innovation Award Geoffrey Beene Design Scholarship Award GFW 25th Anniversary TU Scholarship Hugo Boss Prize Inditex Scholarship Award ISKO Denim Challenge ITS Competition Jason Wu Fabric Sponsorship JCPenny Scholarship Jimmy Choo Scholarship Joe’s Blackbook Design Competition Kenneth Cole Footwear + Accessory Innovation Award Kering Award for Sustainable Fashion Knoll Sponsorship LDNY Legacy Collection Competition
Levi’s X ARTS THREAD Design Challenge LF USA Scholarship Fund Lineapelle Leather Sponsorship Liz Claiborne Design Scholarship Award L’oreal Young Talent Award Luxottica X PARSONS Eyewear Design Competition LVMH Grand Prix Scholarship Marilyn DaSilva Designer/Creator Scholarship Award Mastercard Wearable Payment Technology Hackathon Neiman Marcus Distinguished Designer Award NFAA YoungArts Award Novotex Sponsorship Old Navy Summer Internship Competition Saga Furs International Design Competition SAMSUNG Fashion Design Scholarship Sophie Hallette Sponsorship Supima Design Competition Swarovski Scholarship TARGET X SCAD Design Project The Shoe Polytechnic X PARSONS Collaboration Umbria Cashmere District Award UPW Sponsorship VFiles Academy Prize