Our Mission
The Fashion Scholarship Fund is the foremost fashion-oriented education and workforce development nonprofit in the U.S. The FSF works directly with the country's most talented young students and awards over $1.9 million each year in scholarships to help these students succeed in all sectors of the industry including design and product development, merchandising, marketing, and business strategy.
The FSF also provides scholars with a wide range of internship and career opportunities, mentorship, networking, professional development, and unprecedented access to the industry's most influential leaders and companies.
Get To Know Us
I’m immensely proud to serve as the President of the Fashion Scholarship Fund and its dedicated Board of Governors. FSF carries out a vital role: ensuring that today’s most promising fashion-focused undergraduates pursue professional lives of impact in the fashion industry. The FSF invests in future leaders who will represent our values and aspirations through their creative and entrepreneurial achievements.
In recent years, we have transformed the Fashion Scholarship Fund to increase our effectiveness and strengthen our impact. The coming years will see even greater scale, innovation, rigor, and strength of purpose. We are committed to the success of each FSF Scholar and Virgil Abloh™ “Post-Modern” Scholar and to supporting, educating, and nurturing them along their professional journeys. We will continue to realize our shared vision: a fashion industry in which talented young adults from all backgrounds can pursue and achieve professional success.
Mentoring and meeting so many Scholars has taught me the power of each of these promising students. To the hundreds of industry partners who support us and work with us to create career pathways for each of them: thank you!
To those of you who are considering joining in our efforts through your engagement and support: you will find ample sources of purpose and inspiration and pride to reward your investment and time. Welcome to the Fashion Scholarship Fund.
Amanda Smith
FSF Board President
Since I joined the FSF in 2018, the FSF has navigated a period of profound change for both the organization and the fashion industry. The FSF has had demonstrable success in advancing impact in the fashion industry’s talent pipeline. This effort owes much to Virgil Abloh, who joined the FSF Board in 2019 and established the transformational Virgil Abloh™ “Post-Modern” Scholarship Fund with the FSF. The “Post-Modern” Scholarships — and Scholarships created by so many other FSF partners — are direct investments in talented young adults who are traditionally underrepresented in the fashion industry.
We continue to serve as an effective partner for the many sectors that comprise our industry in building a global workforce, as we do for elevating other values that are important to our Scholars and Alumni, such as environmental sustainability and ethical production. We make change through our industry partnerships, and we thank our partners for investing in our efforts.
We have also deepened the way we have supported our Scholars and Alumni: providing career awareness, mentoring, and professional development opportunities; making connections to internships and employment; building community. As we move forward, we will continue to learn from our Scholars and Alumni how best we may support them and how we may help realize the vision of the industry they seek to join. Thank you for being part of their — and our — journey.
Peter Arnold
FSF Executive Director
Board of Governors
FSF Board Members provide vital career advice, mentoring, and internships for scholars just starting out in the fashion industry. They are committed to engaging with students at all stages of their career.
Virgil Abloh†
Off-White
Founder & Chief Creative Director
Mike Alic
Industry Consultant
Michael Allison†
Burlington Stores, Inc.
EVP/Chief Human Resources Officer
Sam Archibald*
Fanatics, Inc.
Chief Merchandising Officer - Commerce
Peter Arnold*
Fashion Scholarship Fund
Executive Director
FSF Board Secretary
David Bassuk
AlixPartners
Partner and Managing Director,
Global Leader, Retail
Carolyn D'Angelo
Gordon Brothers
Senior Managing Director, Head of Brand Operations
Nata Dvir*
Macy's, Inc.
Chief Merchandising Officer
FSF Board Vice President
Howard Feller*
H Feller Enterprises
Founder
Mike Fralix
[TC]2
President and CEO
Kiera Ganann*
Delta Galil
SVP/Global GM, Ralph Lauren Intimates & Sleepwear
Heath Golden*
Marquee Brands
Chief Executive Officer
Alex Grinberg
Movado
Senior Vice President Customer and Consumer Programs
Celeste Gudas*
24 Seven
Chairwoman, Founder
Stacie Henderson*
TOD'S Group
Chief Marketing Officer, Americas
Brittany Katz
Christian Dior Couture
Director, Demand Planning - Americas
David Katz*
Randa Apparel & Accessories
EVP, Chief Marketing Officer
Matt Laukaitis
Alpha Insight Partners Founding Principal
Jessica Lomax*
Calvin Klein
Chief Design Officer
Marc Mastronardi*
Equinox
President
FSF Board Chairman
Mecca Mitchell
Burlington Stores, Inc.
SVP, Leadership & Organizational Development, DEI, and Community Impact
Kenneth Nolan
Vice President of Design, The Kasper Group
Dan Orwig*
Peerless Clothing
President
Kristin Rehberg*
Kohl's
VP of Design
Paul Rosengard*
WHP Global
Senior Advisor
Heather Roussel
Levi Strauss & Co.
Vice President Merchandising Global Women's, Accessories and Collaborations
Emilie Rubinfeld
Carolina Herrera, Ltd.
President
Michael Setola*
Tharanco Lifestyles
CEO and President
Yehuda Shmidman*
WHP Global
Founder, Chairman and CEO
FSF Board Treasurer
Stanley Silverstein
WHP Global
Chief Commercial Officer
Amanda Smith*
Fairchild Media
Chief Executive Officer
FSF Board President
Gena Smith
LVMH Inc. - North America
Chief Human Resources Officer
Maureen Storch
American Apparel & Footwear Association
Senior Vice President Membership
Chip Thompson*
Ralph Lauren
President & Head of Womenswear and Men's & Women's Footwear & Accessories North American Wholesale
John Tighe*
Tailored Brands
President
FSF Board Chairman
Lana Todorovich*
Industry Consultant
Jennifer Vecchio*
Burlington Stores, Inc.
Group President and Chief Merchandising Officer
Meghan Willis
Under Armour
VP of Product Development, Apparel & Accessories
Marrisa Wilson
MARRISA WILSON New York
Creative Director and Founder
Michelle Wlazlo
JCPenney
Brand CEO
CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE
Keith Baptista
PRODJECT
Managing Partner
Glen Ellen Brown
Ember Advisory
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
June Defabio
Abercrombie & Fitch
EVP, Global Strategy & Business Development
Abbey Doneger
DONEGER | TOBE
President and CEO
Georgie Greville
Director + Creative Consultant
Debra Malbin
Debra Malbin Associates
Founder
Karen Murray
Fivestory
Owner
Peter Sachse
Tailored Brands
Chief Executive Officer
William Susman
Cascadia Capital LLC
Managing Director
Electa Varnish
Industry Consultant
Kenneth Wyse
Wyse Consulting, LLC
President
†IN MEMORY
*Executive Committee Member
