Tonight at Crane Club, Zane Li, of Lii, was announced as the 2026 winner of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. The Chongqing-born, New York-based designer has had quite the year. In April, Li took home the Fashion Trust US Ready-to-Wear Award, and in September, he was declared the winner of the Karl Lagerfeld Prize at the LVMH Prize ceremony in Paris.
At the start of the CVFF finalist process, Li spoke of the financial challenges of running a young brand. “The business side [is the difficult part],” he said. “When you start to consider the income, the revenue, the loss, and the money you spend, suddenly you’re turning your interest into a job. The most rewarding part: You get to control everything. You get to pick your show music, which is my favorite part of doing a show. You get to pick what the color of the carpet is at your show space, and you get to decide what kind of styles you want to sell.”
Li rounds out 2026 with a third cash prize, $300,000 from the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, and further mentorship from industry experts.
