Fashion Trust U.S. announces 2026 winners

Fashion Trust U.S. (FTUS), the non-profit organisation founded by Tania Fares to provide business and financial support to US-based designers, hosted its fourth annual awards in Los Angeles on Tuesday night (April 7), celebrating emerging designers and honouring Tory Burch and Michèle Lamy.

Hosted by American actress and comedian Ego Nwodim, the award ceremony featured a performance by Lykke Li and celebrated designers across ready-to-wear, jewellery, accessories, graduate, and sustainability categories, alongside a design initiative created with Type One Ventures.

New York-based fashion designer Zane Li of label LII, who studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology and graduated in 2023 and made his official NYFW catwalk debut in September 2025, was awarded the ready-to-wear accolade.

The accessories award went to Andrea Marron, a Miami-based designer who specialises in sculptural, handcrafted handbags, while the jewellery award was presented to Josefina Baillères, a Mexican fine jewellery designer, who describes her approach to her craft as "jewelgineering," a term she coined to reflect her blend of technical engineering with artistic sentiment.

The awards also spotlighted Parsons School of Design at The New School graduate Marcelle Barbosa, a New York-based designer and founder of the sustainable luxury label Amaramara, who received the graduate award.

The Sustainability Award, which considered all 16 finalists from the ready-to-wear, jewellery, accessories and graduate categories, went to Maxwell Osborne and Kristy Chen of AnOnlyChild. The New York-based luxury label focuses on upcycled design, using deadstock and vintage fabrics to create one-of-a-kind pieces. Each of the emerging designer winners will receive a grant and ongoing mentorship through Fashion Trust U.S. and Google.

The ceremony also honoured Tory Burch as designer of the year, recognising her role “in defining modern American fashion on a global scale” as well as her commitment to supporting women business owners, while Michèle Lamy was presented with the lifetime achievement award for her “enduring impact on the creative landscape”.

There was also a special innovation prize created in partnership with Type One Ventures, known for investing in space, artificial intelligence, and deep technology, and Lanvin Group, which focused on a competition designed to bridge fashion with frontier innovation. The future form prize was awarded to Deborah Won of Pisces Rising, and her proposal, centred on the theme ‘Space, Reimagined,’ will receive support in developing the concept from design to manufacturing, to bring the idea to a final product.