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The Council of Fashion Designers of America inducted thirty-three new members into its organization last week, a record number. “The class of 2011 represents the largest number of designers since the organization’s founding in 1962,” said Steven Kolb, the CFDA’s CEO. Don’t be fooled: this year’s huge class size doesn’t mean acceptance into the CFDA is getting any easier. Prospective members must submit a resume, portfolio, and two letters of recommendation from current CFDA members, all of which is followed by a series of interviews. With an admission policy that rivals the Ivy League’s, the CFDA selects only the cream of the crop. “Each new member is uniquely talented and collectively they add strength to the ever growing influence of the CFDA and American fashion,” Kolb said. Many of the designers, like Prabal Gurung, Rogan Gregory, Olivier Theyskens, and
Eddie Borgo are already household names (at least, New York households) while others, like Tess Giberson, Derek Miller and Ippolita Rostagno will get a huge boost from their new membership. To celebrate the group’s induction,
Donna Karan will host a party for the new members this fall. Click through for a full list of designers, and congrats to them all!
Charlotte Ronson; Prabal Gurung; Eddie Borgo; Ohne Titel’s Alexa Adams and Flora Gill; Gregory Parkinson; Jen Kao; Ruffian’s Brian Wolk and Claude Morais; Blake Mycoskie of Toms Shoes; Theory’s Olivier Theyskens; United Bamboo’s Thuy Pham and Miho Aoki; Fred Allard of Nine West; Alice + Olivia’s Stacey Bendet; Tess Giberson; Haute Hippie’s Trish Westcoat Pound; Rubin & Chapelle’s Sonja Rubin and Kip Chapelle; Ippolita Rostagno of Ippolita; Mara Hoffman; Gryson’s Joy Gryson; Tucker’s Gaby Basora; Christian Cota; Shaun Kearney of Cynthia Steffe; A.L.C.’s Andrea Lieberman; Scott Hahn and Rogan Gregory of Rogan/Loomstate; Luis Fernandez of Number:Lab; Melissa Joy Manning; Dana Lorenz of Fenton/Fallon; Barton Perreira’s Patty Perreira, and Derrick Miller of Barker Black Ltd.