Nordstrom Teams Up With CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund

Nordstrom is supporting the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund by opening boutiques for the 10 finalists at five flagship stores and Treasure & Bond - its concept store in SoHo that donates 100 percent of proceeds to charity.

The Seattle-based retailer already sells three of the 10 lines (Suno, A.L.C. and Tabitha Simmons) in it's stores. The others are: Assembly New York's Greg Armas, Giulietta's Sofia Sizzi, Illesteva's Justin Salguero, Daniel Silbermann and Alina Silbermann, Jennifer Fisher of Jennifer Fisher Jewelry, Jennifer Meyer of Jennifer Meyer Maguire, The Elder Statesman's Greg Chait, and Wes Gordon, who designs a namesake collection.

Jeffrey Kalinsky, executive vice president of designer merchandising at Nordstrom said, "We currently carry three of the candidates, and we have definite interest in the seven that are not currently represented in stores. Emerging American designers need all the support we can give them as an industry."

About 200 designers applied to the fashion fund this year. The committee cut the pool of entrants down to 50, then cut it down to 10.

"Overall, our Nordstrom customer is much younger, very forward and lifestyle-driven," said Sahar Sokhandan, designer apparel buyer at Nordstrom. "A lot of these designers have loyal followings." The shops, which launch on Monday, are scheduled to remain in stores through May, however, "We think [the boutiques] are going to sell out rather quickly," a spokeswoman said.