Baja East And Cadet Up For CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award

Each year, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour joins forces with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) to select the best up-and-comers in US fashion design. The competition, known as the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, awards the lucky winners with cash prizes to develop their brand. In the past, the Fund has crowned the likes of Public School and Joseph Altuzarra, and also gave birth to an eponymous TV show -- a must-see for fashion addicts.

The 2015 crop includes Out favorites Scott Studenberg and John Targon, founders of the ambisex label Baja East, which we profiled in our summer Hot List, as well as Brad Schmidt and Raul Arevalo, a gay couple at the helm of the Brooklyn-based menswear brand Cadet (featured in our latest Design issue).

Along with eight other finalists, they will vye for a $400,000 prize and a year of professional mentorship from CFDA members. There's also a $150,000 prize for two runner-ups.

The contestants will present a design project in partnership with Fossil to a pannel of judges including Wintour, designer Diane von Fustenberg, and CFDA chief executive director Steven Kolb. The winners will be revealed on November 2.

See the full list of 10 finalists for the 2015 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund below:

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)
Rio Uribe (Gypsy Sport)
Jonathan Simkhai (Jonathan Simkhai)
Thaddeus O'Neil (Thaddeus O'Neil)

For further information, go to CFDA.com