AKNVAS DESIGNER NAMED FINALIST FOR FASHION TRUST AWARD

by John Russel Jones Mar 22, 2023

Christian Juul Nielsen, designer of the Aknvas men’s and women’s collection was named a finalist for the 2023 Fashion Trust Award on Tuesday, March 21st, 2023, in Los Angeles, California.

The Fashion Trust U.S. is a nonprofit initiative dedicated to discovering, funding, and nurturing young design talent with the aim of helping them build their labels into thriving global brands. Winners are awarded financial grants and mentorships covering budget, strategy, digital, merchandising, and general business support.

To help bring attention to the initiative and assemble a strong group of patrons and donors, the Fashion Trust U.S. is guided by Laura Brown, Anne Crawford, Tania Fares, Tan France, Samira Nasr, and Karla Welch, with Shay Gipson as program director. The advisory board members include Mike Amiri, Carmen Busquets, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, Fernando Garcia, Amy Griffin, Bethann Hardison, Kate Hudson, Simon Huck, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Miranda Kerr, Jerry Lorenzo, Alastair McKimm, Jennifer Meyer, Sara Moonves, Arianne Phillips, Kate Young and Law Roach.

The Ready to Wear Award designer finalists included, Agbobly, Aisling Camps, Aknvas, Elena Velez and Puppets & Puppets. Award attendees included Kate Beckinsale, Heidi Klum, Alessandra Ambrosio, Paula Abdul, Demi Moore, Olivia Wilde, Ciara, Paris Jackson, Miranda Kirr, Tracee Ellis Ross, Storm Reid, Kiernan Shipka and more.

Aknvas was founded in 2019. Nielsen’s previous roles were at Dior and Oscar de la Renta. Since launching the brand, it has quickly become a favorite of celebrities including Kate Bosworth, Nick Jonas, Mary J Blige, Sabrina Carpenter, and Emilia Clarke. The collection is currently sold at Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, FRWD.com, Intermix, other specialty stores and on the brand’s e-commerce site. In 2020, the Fashion Group International named the brand the year’s best new womenswear designer at their Rising Star Awards, and in 2021, the best new menswear designer.