Founded in 1962, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) supports American fashion designers and emerging talent through industry and student programs.

Jane Eunchong Lee: Feminine Authenticity & Secret Garden

In Feminine Authenticity, Lee explores ideas of desirability, belonging, and the performance of femininity through knitwear, focusing on the “unseen female experience.” Inspired by fruit seeds like pomegranates, she uses natural imagery to honor womanhood through heritage and creation.

In Secret Garden, Lee builds on those themes through a collection inspired by the life of a garden, using Fair Isle jacquard, floral silhouettes, lace, ruffles, scalloped edges, and layered sheerness. The imagined garden is a kind of “mentalscape” that holds experiences often overlooked by societal expectations.

For Lee, the recognition is especially meaningful because her interest in knitting began with watching her mother. “I grew up fascinated by my mother’s knitting,” she says, adding that receiving an award so closely tied to the craft “makes me feel like things have come full circle.” Lee is spending the summer interning with Veronica Beard in New York City before returning to CCA to continue developing knitwear for her senior thesis.

September Zheng: Bioplastic Project

Zheng’s collection began with an interest in the appearance of plastic and a desire to develop a more sustainable alternative. Using agar-agar and gelatin, he created a biodegradable, water-soluble bioplastic and experimented with its translucency, structure, and construction possibilities. Through trial and error, Zheng learned to lean into the process."What went wrong gave me advice for listening to the material," he says, "and there are just so many more possibilities to play around with."

The recognition has encouraged him to keep experimenting and to help bring more people into the biomaterials field. “CCA and other communities have influenced me to embrace new materials, techniques, or approaches,” says Zheng. "I just need to do it scared and bad, and that will tell me what I need to change to make it good."

Looking ahead, Zheng hopes to further develop the material for his senior collection while continuing to connect with others working in biomaterials and sustainable textiles.