As everyone predicted and hoped, Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osbourne of Public School won the 2013 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award.
We've been anticipating their win ever since they were announced as finalists for the coveted fashion award. After all, 2013 has been a huge year for the dapper duo: in June, they won the Swarovski Menswear Award at the CFDAs, to which Osbourne expressed his surprised excitement, saying, "Holy shit!" to begin their acceptance speech.
The brilliant boys of Public School will receive $300,000 in cash, in addition to being introduced to valuable connections, including a business mentor. What they hope to do with their prize? Expand to womenswear — in other words, best news ever.
This huge win marks the beginning of what will no doubt be a rise to being one of the fashion industry's most sought-after brands. Although relatively young and new — they founded the company in 2008 — you could say it's been a long time coming for the New York natives. The two met when they were working together at Sean John in the early 2000s. After leaving the company, Chow moved to Miami to open a boutique store. Being good friends, Osbourne decided to help Chow create a private collection for the store, sparking the idea to create their own brand together. And the rest is fashion history.
We're beyond excited see what Public School will cook up for us, especially with their newfound backing from the CFDA. We're sure their minds are swirling with ideas, but for now, at least, they celebrate. Here's an Instagram photo Chow shared post-win. Congrats, guys!
Image: alldaydaoyi/Instagram
