Steven Kolb

Steven Kolb is president and chief executive officer of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), a group of over 500 American fashion womenswear, menswear, jewelry, and accessories designers. He holds a Masters in Public Administration from New York University. In May 2014 Kolb received an honorary doctorate of the Arts from Kendall College of Art and Design at Ferris State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.. The Business of Fashion ranks Kolb as one of 500 people shaping the global fashion industry.

Kolb manages the CFDA's membership, trade association activities, and longstanding philanthropic initiatives such as Fashion Targets Breast Cancer,[1] which raises public awareness and funds for breast cancer research in the U.S. and internationally. Furthermore, he has overseen raising funds for natural disasters such as Fashion for Sandy,[2] which raised funds after Hurricane Sandy and for HIV/AIDS through initiatives such as 7th on Sale.

Kolb works directly with CFDA Board Chair Diane von Furstenberg and the Board of Directors, which is composed of America's foremost designers, such as Vera Wang, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Ashley Olsen, Prabal Gurung, and Deborah Lloyd.[3]

One of Kolb's largest contributions to American fashion has been his leadership role in cultivating the next wave of emerging American fashion talent through programs such as the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund[4] (CVFF). Kolb serves as a judge for CVFF and was featured on "The Fashion Fund," an original unscripted series documenting CVFF. Other CFDA program's where he sits on the selection committee include the Elaine Gold Launch Pad in partnership with the Accessories Council and the CFDA/Lexus Fashion Initiative supporting sustainable fashion practices. He also serves as a judge for the International Woolmark Prize and the H&M Foundation Global Change Award.

Kolb has helped build the annual CFDA Fashion Awards to become the preeminent spotlight on American fashion, even being called the Oscars of Fashion.[5] The CFDA Fashion Awards red carpet and show are streamed on CFDA's Facebook page with over 2 million viewers watching in 2018.

Under his direction, the CFDA worked with the Boston Consulting group to conduct an extensive study to evaluate the purpose of New York Fashion Week. The intent of the study was to question the status quo of fashion week and stimulate a dialogue in the American fashion industry.[6] As the result of the study many designers shifted to See Now Buy Now collections and outside the traditional September and February fashion week schedules.

Kolb has also worked to establish the Strategic Partnerships Group (SPG) at the CFDA. This group works to strategically align corporate partners with the CFDA's members, in an effort to leverage and add value to both the partner and the designer, respectively. Charlotte Ronson and Stacey Bendet of Alice & Olivia created limited-edition items for Starbucks as a result of one of these symbiotic partner and designer relationships.[7] Other partnerships include the NFL's Super Bowl, Cartoon Network and Pokémon.

Furthermore, Kolb helped pave the way for the CFDA's Health Initiative, which was formed to address the overwhelming concern about whether some models are unhealthily thin, and how to implement best practices in such cases. In 2018, the Health Initiative was expand to the Initiative on Heath, Safety and Diversity addressing harassment and assault and the need for more diverse casting. Civic responsibility became a core pillar of CFDA's work with Kolb leading campaigns with Planned Parenthood, ACLU and immigration reform with FWD.US. In addition, under his direction CFDA produced a study with Glamour Magazine called "The Glass Runway" looking at the gender inequalities in the fashion industry and offering actionable steps for improvement.

Kolb has helped develop the Fashion Manufacturing Initiative,[8] which is an investment fund to help revitalize New York City's garment industry. The program offers matching financial grants to New York City's fashion manufacturing production facilities looking to grow and sustain their business by acquiring of innovative equipment, expanding their services, training workers, and creating professional development programming. He served on the Manhattan Borough President's working group to define new initiatives to support mid-town Manhattan production. Kolb also works tirelessly to keep a designer's original designs intact through efforts such as the Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act.

A major accomplishment, Kolb successfully led CFDA's effort to acquire the Fashion Calendar—the official schedule of fashion events and shows in New York, including New York Fashion Week. Moreover, Kolb works with international counterparts to manage the global fashion week schedule and he spearheaded the creation of the New York Fashion Week logo and brand. In July 2015, under Kolb's leadership, New York Fashion Week: Men's launched creating a stand-alone fashion week for American menswear that aligns with the men's market.

Prior work

Kolb's background was also in the non-profit sector, but focused on raising funds for HIV and AIDS and cancer. He began his career at the American Cancer Society in New Jersey. While working as the deputy director at the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS DIFFA he managed a network of chapter affiliates and raised millions of dollars through events like Dining by Design and caused related marketing programs like the Gift of Hope. He is the founding executive director of MTV's Staying Alive Foundation where is set up the organization as a 501(c)3 and established an international grant making program for HIV/AIDS prevention and education for youth.

Personal life

On December 27, 2012 Kolb married longtime partner Jason Inkpen in New York City. He has a collection of owls.[9] His rescue dog, Donna, a chihuahua terrier mix has her own Instagram account @offcialdonnathedog

Kolb practices Transcendental Meditation.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Fashion Targets Breast Cancer
  2. ↑ Fashion for Sandy
  3. ↑ CFDA Board of Directors
  4. ↑ CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund
  5. ↑ CNN WWD
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ CNN Living
  8. ↑ Fashion Manufacturing Initiative
  9. ↑ New York Times Magazine
  10. ↑ "The CFDA's Steven Kolb discusses the new men's fashion week, American fashion and Instagram". Buro 24/7. 11 June 2015. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015. About a year ago I started transcendental meditation, and I find it to be fulfilling.
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