Fashion Trust U.S., the nonprofit organization supporting emerging design talent, announced its 2024 winners at a star-studded event at a private residence in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
Hosted by Zooey Deschanel, the honors included awards for ready-to-wear, jewelry, accessories and recent graduates, with two special award categories including inclusivity and sustainability and nearly $500,000 in funding given out to winners.
The Fashion Trust U.S. finalists were selected by board member Tania Fares, Laura Brown, Karla Welch, Tan France, Maha Dakhil and Anne Crawford, with support from presenting sponsor Shop with Google. The winners were selected by the board as well as advisory members including designers Maria Cornejo, Phillip Lim and Isabel Marant, ambassadors, founding patrons and Shop with Google reps.
Presented by Emma Grede, CEO and co-founder of Good American and Aurora James, founder of Brother Vellies and the Fifteen Percent Pledge, the Inclusivity Award sponsored by Shop with Google was presented to Ashley Harris of Don’t Let Disco. The collection of one-of-a-kind, art history-inspired handcrafted beaded jewelry was founded in 2021 by the former Sotheby’s director.
Cynthia Erivo presented the Jewelry Award to MoAnA Luu of ManLuu, which pays homage to the French West Indies using woven rattan and oversize beads, as well as gold and precious stones.
Presented by Isabel Marant, the Accessories Award sponsored by Builder Ai was given to Esha Soni, who launched her own brand of made-in-India heirloom bags after working for Michael Kors, Proenza Schouler, Ralph Lauren and others for nearly two decades.
The Graduate Award sponsored by St. John went to Yamil Arbaje, whose designs address youth culture and representations of Latin American masculinity.
Batsheva Hay won the Sustainability Award. The designer of the subversively feminine label founded in 2017 made headlines at New York Fashion Week in September for casting Molly Ringwald, Ione Skye and others in a cast of age 40-plus models on her runway.
Harbison Studio won the Ready-to-Wear Award, presented by Da’Vine Joy Randolph and her stylists Wayman and Micah. Charles Harbison relaunched his glam womenswear brand in 2022 in L.A. and has dressed Sheryl Lee Ralph, Chloe Bailey and Jodie Turner-Smith among others.
Each winner received a trophy designed by jewelry designer, Nigora Tokhtabayeva of Tabayer. The trophy, designed to be a balancing act, echoes the sentiments of creatives, entrepreneurs, and designers who achieve impossible feats. Inspired by Tabayer’s signature Oera motif, the sculptural gold line, casted in bronze and finished with 18K Fairmined gold, loops into itself like a needle and thread.
Using seed donations from the L.A.-based British heiress Jordana Reuben Yechiel, jewelry designer Jacquie Aiche and 24 other founding patrons in the real estate, finance and art worlds, Tania Fares set up the Fashion Trust U.S. in 2022, with the goal of awarding prizes in amounts determined by a designer’s need.
Fashion Trust U.S. winners receive grants of between $100,000 and $200,000, depending on the size of their business and annual turnover, as well as mentoring. Both U.S. citizens and noncitizens are eligible, but businesses must be based and registered in the U.S., employ American creators and workers and exist for a minimum of two years and a maximum of seven years.
Last year’s inaugural Fashion Trust U.S. event in L.A. brought out Ciara, Tracee Ellis Ross, Demi Moore with daughter Scout LaRue Willis, Heidi Klum, Paula Abdul, Olivia Wilde, Kathryn Newton and many more. Winners took home a Fairmined gold trophy designed by sculptor and jeweler Ana Khouri.
“One of the designers [Harbison] lives in L.A. and thinks it’s a very good thing for his business,” said Fares of the West Coast awards. “There is so much happening creatively with the stylists, artists, with designers, so I feel it’s a great place to host it.”