And the 2018 Nashville Fashion Forward Fund Recipient is...

NASHVILLE FASHION WEEK ANNOUNCES THE 2018 NASHVILLE FASHION FORWARD FUND RECIPIENT AND 2019 PARTNERSHIP WITH OZ ARTS NASHVILLE

Thank you to all that joined us for our 2019 Nashville Fashion Week Launch Party last night at OZ Arts Nashville! We were excited to announce our 2018 Nashville Fashion Forward Fund recipient with plans for our 2019 city-wide celebration of Nashville's thriving fashion and retail community to an enthusiastic and sold-out crowd.

MEET THE EIGHTH ANNUAL NASHVILLE FASHION FORWARD FUND RECIPIENT

We are proud to announce fashion designer Van Hoang as our 2018 Nashville Fashion Forward Fund recipient. A selection committee from The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee selected Hoang from a diverse group of experienced fashion industry applicants.

The Nashville Fashion Forward Fund of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennesseee is an endowed fund that supports the next generation of fashion industry professionals with ties to Middle Tennessee by providing an annual financial award and resources for experiential professional development opportunities to advance the career of select local talent with demonstrated experience in a fashion-related field based on pre-established criteria.

“I am incredibly honored to be the recipient of this years Nashville Fashion Forward Fund," said Hoang. "This award will enable me to attend the Copenhagen Fashion Summit which is a global conference about sustainability in fashion and this opportunity will allow me to learn from top leaders in the field. I hope to bring this knowledge back to Nashville and turn ideas into action.”

Van Hoang is a designer based in Nashville, TN. She has a B.F.A. in Fashion Design & Merchandising from O’More College of Design as well as an M.A. in Design for Sustainability from Savannah College of Art & Design. Her aesthetic is modern yet timeless, versatile, and functional. She is interested in the intersection of sustainability, fashion, and technology and how those fields can work together to innovate solutions and break down barriers to create a more sustainable fashion system. Hoang's mission is to offer an alternative to fast fashion that many have become accustomed to. In the past she created one-of-a-kind gowns with intricate craftsmanship and couture techniques. However, she recently launched her namesake high-end ready-to-wear line that is handmade in Nashville and hopes to build a company with sustainability, quality, and community as it’s core values. Hoang showed on the Nashville Fashion Week runway in 2015.

“Talent and commitment was seen in every one of the 18 applications this year and our committee was thrilled to read the record number of applications and be introduced to so many creative voices in our community" said Amy Fair, Vice President, Donor Services at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. "In the end, it was Van’s incredible presentation and vision for how the experience of traveling to the Copenhagen Fashion Summit would enhance her commitment to sustainable fashion and allow her to begin to build an international network of like-minded individuals interested in the intersection of fashion, sustainability, and technology.”

The establishment of the Nashville Fashion Forward Fund in 2010 by the co-founders of Nashville Fashion Week was inspired by the professional development provided by the Council of Fashion Designers (CFDA) through programs such as the CFDA/VOGUE Fashion Fund. The Nashville Fashion Forward Fund is a component fund of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee that is funded with charitable donations and proceeds from Nashville Fashion Week. The Nashville Fashion Forward Fund ensures that Nashville Fashion Week is not just a signature high-profile event to celebrate creativity, but also an ongoing, sustainable focus for philanthropic support of our community.

Previous Nashville Fashion Forward Fund recipients include apparel designers Maria Silver, Eric Bornhop, Julianna Bass and Lauren Leonard Phelps; fashion photographer Brett Warren; accessory designer Ceri Hoover, and Elise Joseph, founder of Goodwin.

SAVE THESE DATES!

Nashville Fashion Week will take place April 2-6, 2019 in collaboration with our strategic partner OZ Arts Nashville. The fifth annual Nashville Fashion Forward Gala will also take place at OZ Arts on January 19. 

“We are so thrilled to have OZ Arts Nashville as our strategic partner and our home for all of our runway shows again this year,” said Nashville Fashion Week co-founders/managing partners Connie Cathcart-Richardson and Marcia Masulla. “OZ Arts has been a long time friend and supporter of NFW and together we will continue to take Nashville Fashion Week and our creative community to the next level.” 

“OZ Arts is proud of its ongoing partnership with Nashville Fashion Week,” said OZ Arts President and CEO Tim Ozgener. “I believe fashion is one of Nashville’s most dynamic creative industries. Helping showcase this industry and its designers while supporting the growth of Nashville’s creative class just makes sense for us at OZ Arts Nashville.”

Cathcart-Richardson and Masulla are excited to showcase the accompishments of Nashville's established designers as well as new emerging designers found through the NFW application process on the runway at OZ.

“Our mission from day one has been to educate local and national audiences about Nashville’s thriving fashion industry. Nashville Fashion Week and the Nashville Fashion Forward Fund have helped raise awareness of Nashville’s vast creative talent by showcasing over 130 designers and hundreds of local businesses with an investment of over $1 million in the local fashion community over the past eight years," Cathcart-Richardson and Masulla said. "We look forward to fostering Nashville’s fashion-forward and entrepreneurial talent for many years to come with this volunteer led and run event.”

Nashville Fashion Week was founded in 2010 as an all-volunteer led and run event spotlighting Nashville’s growing fashion community with a sustainable focus of philanthropic support of the Nashville Fashion Forward Fund of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. Nashville Fashion Week features local, regional and national designers and industry professionals in an array of creative events throughout the week to encourage both Nashvillians and visitors to explore the city’s diverse fashion and retail spaces through promotions, partnerships and educational workshops.

Tickets to the Nashville Fashion Forward Gala will go on sale November 26 at NashvilleFashionWeek.com.

ONLY 10 MORE DAYS FOR DESIGNERS TO APPLY TO SHOW AT NFW '19

WHO'S NEXT? APPLY NOW FOR AMAX + NFW MODEL SEARCH 2019 

Introducing AMAX Talent + NFW Model Search 2019

Nashville Fashion Week and AMAX Talent Announce Model Search 2019

AMAX Talent is searching for aspiring models through December 2 to debut at Nashville Fashion Week 2019. Eligible male and female applicants ages 13-30 will have the opportunity to meet with AMAX Talent model scouts for a chance at the grand prize. 

The finalists will be announced early 2019 with the winner announced in April during Nashville Fashion Week. The winner will receive a prize package that includes:

• $1,000 modeling contract and development with AMAX Talent

• The opportunity to meet one-on-one with top national modeling agents including IMG, Next, Elite and Ford and to walk the Nashville Fashion Week runway

• A professional photo shoot with a local fashion photographer

• A gift bag provided by Lucy Pop Salon

All finalists will have the opportunity to meet with agents from top agencies during the AMAX showcase and will receive beauty makeovers by Lucy Pop Salon.

Applications will be accepted at NashvilleFashionWeek.com, and through the @AMAXArmy Instagram account. A live model call will also be held on Friday, October 19 from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. at Love 30A, 30 Gardenia Street, Cottage 3, Santa Rosa, Florida 32459 during fall break.

No experience is required, but applicants must meet all of the physical and age requirements and guidelines specified on NashvilleFashionWeek.com. Only models NOT represented by other agencies are eligible to participate. All Model Search applicants will also be considered for Nashville Fashion Week model casting.

The AMAX + NFW Model Search has been a launchpad for many successful modeling careers since 2012. 2018 Model Search winner Aubrey Hill walked in Nashville Fashion Week and made the cover of Native Magazine, shot by Brett Warren. She will be spending this fall modeling in Thailand. 2017 Model Search winner Ella Miller is in development and has worked with photographers Brett Warren, Mark DeLong, Jess Williams and Mario Pena. Only two weeks after being named the 2016 Model Search winner, Molly Rothe was selected to walk for Carolina Herrera. She has since received multiple contract offers from top agencies around the world and worked with renowned photographer Emma Summerton. 2015 Model Search winner, Briggs Rudder, spent the summer modeling in Japan, and is signed with Wilhelmina in New York where she has worked for Maybelline and walked for Valentino. 2014 winner, Sydney Chiyoko, is signed with Next Model Management in Los Angeles and Miami and with DNA Models in New York. She has walked in Nashville Fashion Week and Miami Swim Week and starred in campaigns for Uta and Bad Habit Beauty.  2013 winner, Olivia Brunner, has been featured in Justine Magazine and worked for TJ Maxx. Caleigh Darraugh, the 2012 Model Search winner, has worked in Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Asia. Her clients include Marc Jacobs, Kate Spade, Gilt Group, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire France and L’Officiel and she has appeared on the cover of WWD and L’Officiel Morocco. 

AMAX Talent is a full service agency representing fashion, commercial and lifestyle models as well as actors, hair and make-up artists, and wardrobe stylists. Cherylann Stephens, former director of Next and Wilhelmina in Los Angeles, opened AMAX's parent company, Maximum Artist Creative Services, in 2005 to fill the need for an artists agency in the Nashville market. In 2009 MACS acquired AMAX, a well known Nashville modeling agency founded in 1989. In 2012, AMAX was joined by Ginny Edwards Maxwell, a well-known model scout and mother agent. Through a strong emphasis on both local and direct booking, as well as scouting and developing local models for international placement, AMAX has quickly risen to become one of the premier agencies in the Southeast. AMAX models have been featured in campaigns for Calvin Klein, Celine, Jill Stuart, American Eagle, Ralph Lauren, Levi's, Tommy Hilfiger as well as walked the runways of Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Prada, Versace and Louis Vuitton. For more information on the agency, please visit AMAXTalent.com.

Who Will Be The Next Nashville Fashion Forward Fund Recipient?

The Application Deadline is this FRIDAY, October 19

Don't let this opportunity pass you by! Applications for the 2018 Nashville Fashion Forward Fund Award are due by 4 p.m. on Friday, October 19 at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. #whynfw

Nashville Fashion Week 2019 Emerging Designer applications are being accepted now through November 25th too. Detailed information can be found under APPLICATIONS at NashvilleFashionWeek.com.