The finalists for the 2011 CFDA Fashion Fund have been announced, and wow are they good.The fund was set up eight years ago to support the most promising up-and-coming designers with grants and mentoring, and the winner receives a hefty $300,00 (not to mention bragging rights), while the two runners-up receive $100,000. Past winners Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler will be making the final decision in November, along with Diane Von Furstenberg, Reed Krakoff, Jeff Lyons, and others. The selection of has been whittled down to menswear designers Antonio Azzuolo and Carlos Campos, jewelry designers Pamela Love and Soraya Silchenstedt, and womenswear designers Joseph Altuzzara, Shane Gabier and Christopher Peters of Creatures of the Wind, Michelle Ochs and Carly Cushnie of Cushnie et Ochs, Alexa Adams and Flora Gill of Ohne Titel, and Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty of Suno. Check them out below! And tell us, who do you think should win?
Antonio Azzuolo
Antonio Azzuolo, photos: courtesy of the designer Joseph Altuzarra
Joseph Altuzarra, photos courtesy of the designer Carlos Campos
Carlos Campos, photos: Retna, courtesy of the designer
Shane Gabier and Christopher Peters of Creatures of the Wind
Photos: courtesy of The Chicago Reader, the designers Michelle Ochs and Carly Cushnie of Cushnie et Ochs
Cushnie et Ochs, photos courtesy of the designers Soraya Silchenstedt of Finn Jewelry
Photos: Susan Pittard, Courtesy of the designer Dana Lorenz of Fenton/Fallon
Dana Lorenz, photos courtesy of the designer Alexa Adams and Flora Gill of Ohne Titel
Ohne Titel, photos courtesy of the designer Pamela Love
Pamela Love, photos: Kelly Stuart, the designer Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty of Suno
Suno, photos: Getty, courtesy of the designers