A major seat at fashion’s proverbial table has just been filled; on Thursday, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) announced the promotion of former Chief Administrative and Financial Officer CaSandra Diggs to president of the famed fashion organization.
Diggs has been with the CFDA since 2001. As the new president of the nonprofit trade association, she will report to CFDA CEO Steven Kolb and the Board of Directors, of which designer Tom Ford is currently chairman. According to the CFDA, “she will be charged with developing strategy and making decisions that further the CFDA’s purpose to champion, educate, and support its membership and the fashion industry-at-large.”
“CaSandra is an innovative thinker with a strong understanding of organizational and business operations,” Kolb said in a statement. “Expanding her role will provide the CFDA with more opportunity to meet the needs of the membership in a broad and diverse way. It is a critical time for our industry, and she is the right person with the right ideas to help lead CFDA into the future.”
“A critical time” might be an understatement, as the fashion industry sits firmly at the crosshairs of industries both profoundly affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 and the resulting economic crisis, with catastrophic losses and the future of Fashion Week, which is organized by the CFDA, uncertain. Nevertheless, the organization has remained a resource for both well-known and lesser-known designers, recently joining forces with Harlem’s Fashion Row to help create the ICON 360 Fund, a $1 million fund for BIPoC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) designers affected by the COVID crisis, among other initiatives.
“CFDA remains a vital pillar of the fashion community,” Diggs said in the announcement of her promotion. “I am delighted to join Tom Ford and Steven Kolb as we continue to advance and evolve the CFDA into a modern, forward-thinking organization that is reflective of our times.”