The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund is one of such. It is now six years old and offers emerging talents to get noticed and appreciated.

What is less encouraging is that no other country except the US holds this competition.

But as it is getting more and more popular I think we can hope that soon the situaion will change to the better. The U.K. has just launched its own new-designer competition and Italy has similar plans.

Vogue‘s editor Anna Wintour is interested in the subject a lot. She said she’d recently had a meeting with the French minister of culture about starting a similar contest in France.

And Brazil, India, Russia, and China aren’t far behind,” Wintour added. But still, she argued, “New York is the place to come for young designers to show what they’re capable of.”

The winners of this year come from different backgrounds. Womenswear designer Sophie Théallet is French. She was awarded the grand prize of $200,000 and a year-long mentorship.

Sophie commented:

I’m French, so I’m going to try to do my best. Thank you for making my American dreams come true.”

Among the runners-up were mentioned jewelry designer Monique Pean and menswear designer Patrik Ervell who received $50,000 each to pursue their designer plans. The former promised, “I won’t disappoint you,” while the latter told the judges, “Thank you for thinking of this award. We all appreciate it.”

You might not know these names yet but it is sure that soon you will. Sophie Théallet, for instance, has already got some recognition for dressing the First Lady for Senator Ted Kennedy’s funeral in August.

And the award she received can become a good start in her career of a world designer.

Remember Alexander Wang?

He was last year’s winner and now he is known all over the globe. Among other winner we can name: Rogan (2007), Doo-Ri Chung (2006), Trovata (2005) and Proenza Schouler (2004).

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As you probably know at the ceremony CFDA Journal is distributed among the attendees. This time the nominees are featured in it wearing their own creations. It is worth seeing!

For example, Swarovski Womenswear Designer nominee Jason Wu models one of his evening gowns over a suit.
Designer of the Year nominees Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte are featured with rosy cheeks. International Award winner for Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, dons a pair of the bunny ears from his latest show on.

Another Swarovski Award For Womenswear Alexander Wang also poses in his creations.

The Journal itself won’t be available for ordinary customers unfortunately, but those who wish to be involved somehow can participate in a Popular Vote Award introduced by the CFDA.

So, anyone can nominate their favorite designer to win until June 9.

Here is the list of designer nominees:

Womenswear Designer Of The Year:
Marc Jacobs
Narciso Rodriguez
Rodarte’s Laura and Kate Mulleavy

Menswear Designer Of The Year:
Calvin Klein’s Italo Zucchelli
Michael Bastian
Band of Outsiders’s Scott Sternberg

Accessory Designer Of The Year:
Marc Jacobs
Vera Wang
Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez

Swarovski Award For Womenswear:
Jason Wu
Thakoon Panichgul
Alexander Wang

Swarovski Award For Menswear:
Patrik Ervell
Tim Hamilton
Robert Geller

Swarovski Award For Accessory Design:
Albertus Q. Swanepoel of Albertus Quartus
Justin Giunta for Subversive Jewelry
Alejandro Ingelmo

International Award:
Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton
Geoffrey Beene

Lifetime Achievement Award:
Anna Sui

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