The Tamesis
Now, the words have been spoken. “Don’t everyone know about the Fashion Trust?” Deborah Won, one of the graduate finalists, asked at the presentation. She points out that this is one of the few awards for emerging talent. Lii’s Lii also participated in the competition for this year’s LVMH Prize. He applied at the suggestion of Welch, a member of the FTUS board of directors. AnOnlyChild’s Chen said she and Osborne learned about the award through their peers.
Still, FTUS is not as well-known in the wider fashion world as its Middle Eastern counterpart Fashion Trust Africa, which Fares founded in 2019. At the November 2025 show, fashion elites from Miuccia Prada to Daniel Roseberry were in attendance. Fares believes that the FTA Association is helping FTUS, just as Fashion Trust UK (the original organization, founded by Fares in 2011) helped in the early days of the Middle East version. “I remember very clearly that when I went to meet all the Middle Eastern designers, they were very skeptical and didn’t want to apply,” she said. UK evidence helps build trust. “It’s exactly the same in America,” she said. Now the U.S. record also helps.
Fares believes that once the strong bones are established, the rest will follow. Her main focus is recruiting the right talent. “This is huge. The talent pool is very broad, and making sure we find the right designers to support them in a really meaningful way…is very time-consuming.” Fares believes that by building a platform that is valuable to designers (i.e., it actually helps their business grow), visibility will follow. “We’re focused on growing in a thoughtful way rather than trying to accelerate too quickly,” Fares said.
FTUS is receiving increasing attention. Scott, played by Diotima, first learned about the award through social media. “As a brand, we are always looking for opportunities that are not only supportive but also aligned with our vision and values,” she said. “This feels like a program to really understand the future of brands like Diotima.” Scott used the prize money to hold Diotima’s first fashion show in September 2025.
“The win was really a turning point for us,” Scott said. “The support we have received has allowed us to invest in some key brand initiatives we have been working on, most importantly producing our first fashion show. This is a huge milestone for Diotima. A fashion show is more than just a presentation, it is a statement about the direction of the brand and a powerful way to connect with a wider audience. Without the resources this win has provided, that moment may not have come. It gave us the visibility and momentum we needed at the right time.”
Ahead of the inaugural awards show in 2023, Fares said she is seeking to prove the necessity and value of nonprofits to the American fashion industry. Has FTUS achieved this goal?
“It’s more recognized. It’s a little more international [in attendance]. Designers want to be involved,” Fares said. “We sell more tables, we have more sponsors. So yes, we are growing. But, she said, there is more work to be done. “In order to raise more money, it’s important to be able to give more money back.” It’s about continuing to strengthen the program and the level of support. I wanted to build something that designers could trust, not just [for] A moment in time, but as they grow. “
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