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The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund is a whirlwind experience for the finalists. Three weeks ago, they found out they had been chosen. Two weeks ago the out-of-towners flew to New York to join the locals for , where they encountered many of the competition’s previous winners and finalists, in the process discovering they are now part of a new community.

And this week, they were invited to the offices, along with a rack full of their signature pieces and a “muse” wearing one of their most striking looks, to introduce themselves to the judges, which this year include ​​ ’s Mark Holgate and Nicole Phelps, Instagram’s Eva Chen, SVP and Fashion Director at Saks Roopal Patel, VP and Fashion Director at Nordstrom Rickie de Sole, the model Paloma Elsesser, Brother Vellies Creative Director and Fifteen Percent Pledge founder Aurora James, CFDA Chairman and designer Thom Browne, and CFDA CEO Steven Kolb. Phew! As overwhelmed as the finalists may have been, the mood inside ’s fashion closet, where the event took place, was buoyant. Each designer/brand had 15 minutes to tell their story, show off their clothes, and answer questions about their work and their business, showing off their personalities in the process.



Get to know them below: Grace Ling, 27 From Singapore, now based in New York I just have always wanted my brand, I can’t see myself doing literally anything else. I was so sure of it that in school I didn’t do any of my homework and I just made my thesis my busines.

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