Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Fashion & Design and Fashion & Culture 2026 ($50,000 prize)

Applications are open for the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Fashion & Design and Fashion & Culture 2026. This prestigious award recognizes the remarkable early-career achievements of young, immigrant fashion professionals who are reshaping the world of fashion through innovative design, cultural influence, and boundary-pushing creativity.

Categories

Fashion & Design:

• Designers – including but not exclusive to womenswear, menswear, nonbinary clothing, textile design (including print, embellishment, knitwear, original fabric making for fashion), and accessories including footwear, bags, jewelry, and other artifacts relating to the culture of fashion.
• Environmental and Technology Designers – environmental designers, sustainability experts, eco-conscious creators, and professionals designing wearable technologies.
• Material Innovation – professionals who develop new fabrics and innovative textile technologies such as smart textiles, eco-friendly fabrics, and new dyeing/surface application techniques for various sectors including but not exclusive to Uniforms, Athletics, Space, Medical, and Innovative Workwear.
• Makeup Artists / Hair Stylists – highly skilled artists and stylists who have achieved industry recognition for their work or experimental artists that push the breadth of materials used to both challenge and communicate perceived beauty ideals through the art and design of makeup or hair.

Fashion & Culture:

• Writers and Researchers – including academic (historical, theoretical, and anthropological), journalistic, critical, and editorial.
• Curators and Museum Professionals – including exhibitions, presentations, and displays through real and/or virtual environments. It could include preservation and conservation.
• Stylists – including editorials, advertising campaigns, and fashion presentations
• Image Makers – including fashion photography, film, animation, illustration, and work in fashion tech.

Prizes of Creative Promise

• Unrestricted cash prize of $50,000 is awarded to each prizewinner.
• Reflect on how your experience as an immigrant has shaped your success.
• Receive an invaluable endorsement from leaders in your field.
• Receive a comprehensive public relations campaign to promote you and your work.

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Eligibility for Creative Promise

Applicants must:

• Have been born outside the United States of America to non-American parents;
• Not be more than 38 years old as of December 31, 2025 (born on or after January 1, 1987), Exceptions will be made for applicants who were born on January 1, 1985, to December 31, 1986, and who experienced career interruptions due to caregiving, medical, military, or parental leave;
• Have lived in the United States for at least 4 years (or immigrated to the United States on or before December 31, 2021);
• Be one of the following: a naturalized citizen or a permanent resident of the United States; a H-1B or O-1 visa holder with a valid visa stamp; a H-4 visa holder with a valid EAD card; a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) relief; an asylee or an asylum seeker who has applied for asylum and has a valid EAD card. Please note that other types of visas including TN, F-1, J-1 visa holders are not eligible for the prize. Applicants may be required to submit a scanned copy of a valid immigration document if their application progresses in the review process. The staff at the Vilcek Foundation will reach out with instructions at the appropriate time;
• Have at least 5 years of professional experience in fields related to Fashion & Design or Fashion & Culture;
• Not be enrolled as a full-time student (Exceptions may apply for some doctoral students who will complete their program this year);
• Have completed at least 3 professional, implemented solo or collective projects;
• Intend to pursue a career in the United States;
• Not be a past recipient of the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in any category.

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Application

You will be required to:

• Register for the Vilcek Foundation Prize Portal (You will receive an email prompting you to create your user profile. Check your spam folder if you do not receive it.)
• Complete your user profile
• Complete all application questions and provide the following:
  • Answer essay questions.
  • Current CV: provide a public URL link (e.g., Dropbox, Google Drive) to a letterhead-sized PDF, or a link to a viewable PDF version of your current CV.
  • Work samples/projects: provide public URL links to 3 to 5 work samples/projects that best represent your career, aesthetics, and vision, and exemplify the body of work you wish for the jurors to review.
  • Press clippings: provide a public URL link (e.g., Dropbox, Google Drive) to a letterhead-sized PDF of press clippings about your work, or a link to a viewable PDF version of the press clippings about your work.
  •  2 references: provide the names and contact information of 2 references.
• Sign an age exception self-attestation if you were born between January 1, 1985, and December 31, 1986.
• Submit a completed application by Monday, June 9, 2025, 5:00 pm ET.

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