FGI ANNOUNCES FASHION MENTORSHIP PROGRAM AT RISING STAR AWARDS
Last week Fashion Group International (FGI) welcomed industry luminaries and tastemakers to The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers in New York City for its 27th annual Rising Star Awards. The awards, sponsored by Hilldun Corporation, recognized winners in updated gender-inclusive categories including fashion apparel, accessories, fine jewelry, beauty, sustainability, collaborations, and more. At the event, FGI also revealed its first-ever fashion mentorship program.
The ceremony kicked off with a keynote speech from fashion icon and ARTFashion Founder Patricia Field, and remarks by FGI President and CEO Maryanne Grisz.
“The FGI Rising Star Awards were created as a platform to celebrate and elevate the next generation of leaders in our field,” said Maryanne Grisz. “With our new Rising Star mentorship program, we at Fashion Group International are proud to provide award winners with more tools to grow their business with guidance from some of the industry’s most experienced leaders.”
This year’s winners included Teddy von Ranson for Active/Casualwear, with the award presented by Constance White, and an award for collaborations presented to Thomas Kennedy, Group President, Wolverine Work, for the Wolverine 1000 Mile x Old Rip Van Winkle boot, presented by Nigel Barker. Other award winners can be found here.
A mentorship program, powered by the FGI Foundation, is now a critical part of the FGI Rising Star Awards. The program will educate and empower all FGI Awards winners by connecting these rising stars with industry veterans for mentorship, career support, and educational resources.
“It is critical to the business of fashion and all the related industries to support our emerging brands and creators,” says Grisz. “They need tools and support to overcome challenges and grow. Fashion Group International’s goal with this mentorship program is to offer these vital tools for scaling and growing businesses in today’s marketplace.
“FGI developed this new mentorship and education program as a means of further supporting FGI Rising Star Awards finalists and honorees, offering tangible tools and key introductions to support them on their continued growth trajectory.”
All FGI Rising Star finalists will have access to a new video program produced by FGI in partnership with Location 8 – which will cover a variety of pertinent topics designed to encourage young designers, founders, and entrepreneurs and help them address key challenges facing fashion, beauty, and business startups today.
The Rising Star honoree in each category will also gain valuable mentors through FGI’s network of established industry leaders in the fields of fashion, business, beauty, retail, and sustainability, and more. FGI will introduce and nurture those mentor relationships and provide a guided framework to facilitate their conversations.
How does this mentorship differ from other industry mentoring and incubator programs?
“This program is different because it is demand-driven – developed in step with the feedback we’ve received from our global chapters and member base,” says Grisz. “FGI developed the mentorship program based on polls our organization has conducted with numerous young brands on the topics they feel are most essential for overcoming business challenges, and from there we developed conversation-driven curriculum to address those needs. Topics covered will vary based on mentor and mentee, but may include: business plans, sales and distribution, licensing, legal and other pertinent subjects.”
“We embrace our entire Rising Star community of creators, winners, and finalists,” adds Grisz. “The talent in this year’s competition was outstanding and sure to be tomorrow’s leaders.”
FGI’s first Rising Star mentors will include:
Gary Wassner – Hilldun Corporation
Edwina Kulego – Informa Markets
Behnaz Gharamani – Brother Vellies
Caroline Fabrigas – Scent Marketing Inc.
Carlos Campos – Designer
Nicole Fischelis – Fashion Forecasting And Fgi Communique Curator
Douglas Hand, Esq. – Hand Baldachin And Associates Llp
Alyce Panico – Luxe Collective Group
Image, top: Teddy von Ranson speaks onstage at the FGI Rising Star Awards 2023 at The Lighthouse, Pier 61 on May 08, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)