Dancers! Snakes! Stomp! Inside the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Runway Show

On paper, the 10 finalists for this year’s CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund might not have much in common. How could the whimsy of Raffaella Hanley’s Lou Dallas collections relate to the 3D printing technology used by Abasi Rosborough? Stylist Alex Harrington made the connections during the CVFF’s fashion show at Cipriani tonight, using dancers to underline themes of movement, performance, and glamour in each collection.

Things started off with last year’s CVFF winner Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss introducing this season’s show. “I remember being in the audience waiting for the announcement to happen, uncertain if my name would be called,” Jean-Raymond told the crowd. “I also remember the fashion show because it was a reminder of the bond formed between my fellow finalists. I hope it does the same for you.”

Within seconds a parade of ballroom dancers emerged, zhuzhed up in Christopher John Rogers’s over-the-top confections. Then models darted across the dining room in wedding looks by Danielle Frankel, followed by flappers pouring flutes of Perrier-Jouët champagne in Lou Dallas’s homespun frocks. After models stomped though in Tre by Natalie Ratabesi’s ’80s-inspired garb, a painted model came out with a live snake—yes, there were gasps—to introduce Collina Strada’s upcycled dresses. There were flamenco dancers for Alejandra Alonso Rojas, voguers for Barragán, hip-hop dancers for Private Policy, greasers for Reese Cooper, and performers from Stomp in Abasi Rosborough who brought down the house down.

By the end of it all, when a confetti canon shot silver glitter across the room, it was hard to find anyone not smiling. The ones who had real cause to smile were Rogers, who won the grand prize, and the two runners-up, Danielle Hirsch of Danielle Frankel and Reese Cooper.