Men’s fashion designer Eric Bornhop, a 2014 Nashville Fashion Week Emerging Designer, has been named the Recipient of the 2016 Fashion Forward Fund at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, it was announced tonight at the Feast for Fashion event at the Little Octopus in East Nashville. Bornhop is the founder of Eric Adler Clothing in Nashville. He is the fifth recipient of the award since its inception.
It was also announced that All-Access passes for Nashville Fashion Week, which takes place April 5-9, 2016 at various venues around Nashville, are available now.
Bornhop began his journey just three years ago when he began apprenticing under master tailor and legendary designer, Manuel. He launched his own brand, Eric Adler Clothing, last year, “providing traditional, southern looks with modern fabrics and hints of east and west coast styles.” He quickly gained regional recognition, and is now carried in seven retail locations in the Middle Tennessee area.
In 2015, he opened up his own shop in Green Hills, Swank Factory, to showcase his one-of-a-kind and limited-quantity products, all handmade in Tennessee, ranging from pocket squares to three-piece suits. He plans to use the funds from the Fashion Forward Fund award to build his wholesale trade, taking his brand from bespoke to “bespoke inspired,” by traveling to larger trade shows and regional, gender-specific markets. He dreams of having Nashville recognized as one of the major metropolitan areas in the world of fashion.
“The Community Foundation and Nashville Fashion Week have developed prestige, and I’m hoping it opens up some more doors,” said Bornhop of winning the award. “I’ve had this business for a year and half, and everything up to this point has felt like a dream, so it seems like some validation for that dream. I’m just so blessed and lucky to be brought into and nurtured by this community.”
Nashville Fashion Forward Fund
The Nashville Fashion Forward Fund of The Community Foundation is dedicated to supporting the next generation of fashion industry professionals with ties to Middle Tennessee. It presents an annual award to advance the career of select local talent with demonstrated experience in a fashion-related field.
Monies are raised for the Nashville Fashion Forward Fund through Nashville Fashion Week, founded and directed by a collaboration of fashion, retail and media professionals who have partnered to combine resources and passion to create an event spotlighting Nashville’s growing fashion industry. The award recipient is selected by a committee of the Board of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
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