Thom Browne has been unanimously elected as the next chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, succeeding Tom Ford after his three-year term that ended in May. Browne’s term will begin January 1, while CFDA chief executive officer, Steven Kolb, will continue to serve as interim chair until the end of December. Ford’s tenure included the creation of the Vogue Common Thread initiative, which gave over $5 million dollars to American designers during the pandemic.

“My most important message is that everyone should have all the opportunities to thrive as designers, but the core of this success has to start from pure creativity,” said Browne. It is our responsibility as designers to keep the story being told in an uncompromisingly creative way that reaches all in the most positive way.”

Browne launched his own label in 2003 in a made-to-measure studio in the West Village, before joining the CFDA in 2005, where he placed as a runner up in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. The New York designer has become renowned for his shrunken tailoring and fantastical runways, expanding from his start in menswear to a full spectrum of ready-to-wear, fragrance, and accessories for both men and women. Browne has won the CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year Award three times, in 2006, 2013, and 2016.

Browne has created an impressive business model without ever losing an ounce of his creative integrity, showing elaborate runway performances with every collection and embracing the avant-garde while simultaneously thriving financially. His label was bought by Ermenegildo Zegna in 2018, valued at $500 million, and this year, half-year revenues for Thom Browne have been reported by Zegna at €186 million in August. 

“It is the mission of the CFDA to support and encourage new voices and new designers to parlay their creativity into a unique and singular level of success,” shares Browne. As designers, it is our responsibility to provoke, to educate, to entertain, to make laugh and to make cry, and most importantly, to make beautiful clothes and to succeed in nurturing the next generation of American design.”