Area, Collina Strada, and Diotima Are the New Grant Program’s Inaugural Recipients
The Council of Fashion Designers of America has announced the Fashion Equity Fellowship in partnership with Google, the official equity partner of CFDA’s New York Fashion Week initiatives. The new grant program aims to connect Google’s resources and knowledge directly to designers and their brands to support their upcoming February 2025 NYFW collection and showcase.
The three participating brands in the fellowship are Area, designed by Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Panszczyk, Collina Strada, designed by Hillary Taymour, and Diotima, designed by Rachel Scott. Each designer receives a $50,000 grant toward their collection and show development, focusing on product inclusion and equity.
Led by Google’s product inclusion and equity team, the fellowship will run through spring 2025, with support from CFDA. Designers will work closely with the Google team to learn best practices for designing inclusive and equitable products, aiming to continue this initiative in future seasons.
Program goals include end-to-end practice through ideation, user experience, user testing, and marketing, as well as thought leadership and storytelling.
“The Fashion Equity Fellowship with Google speaks to our mission and is an extension of CFDA’s longstanding work in the social impact space,” Steven Kolb, CEO of the CFDA, said. “We are excited to support exceptional American design talent and help them continue innovating in the inclusive design space. Through this important fellowship, they will learn to continue incorporating the lived experiences of an important customer base into their designs and showcases.”
Google is also set to support emerging designers with the Shop With Google American Emerging Designer of the Year award at the CFDA Fashion Awards. This year’s nominees include Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell for Tanner Fletcher, Jackson Wiederhoeft for Wiederhoeft, Connor McKnight, Presley Oldham, and Henry Zankov for Zankov Ankov.
