Trovata Takes Top Honors
The boys of Costa Mesa, Calif.–based Trovata, a men’s and women’s contemporary line, took the real O.C. to New York and brought home a big win last week.
The Council of Fashion Designers of America and Vogue on Nov. 10 presented the quartet of Trovata designers—Sam Shipley, Josia Lamberto-Egan, John Whitledge and Jeff Halmos—the coveted CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award. The grand prize includes $200,000 and a year’s worth of business mentorship from industry luminaries.
“It’s huge, but it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Halmos said. “We’re really excited about the financial reward, but we’re the most excited about the mentorship. As a small company, we face lots of roadblocks. Hopefully, the experts will be there to help us through them.”
New York designers Derek Lam and Thom Browne were each named runners-up and took home cash prizes of $50,000 each.
Other finalists included David Nak Armstrong and Anthony Camargo of Anthony-Nak; Jean Yu of Jean Yu; Natalie Chanin of Project Alabama; Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra of Costello Tagliapietra; Jane Mayle of Mayle; Isabel Toledo; and Tina Lutz and Marcia Patmos of Lutz & Patmos. —Erin Barajas
