Meet the Veronica Beard x CFDA 2026 Creative Futures Scholars

For the second year in a row, VB Gives Back is proud to partner with the CFDA Foundation to support the next generation of fashion talent. The Creative Futures scholarship, which launched last year, helps emerging designers pursue their education and begin building their careers in fashion.  

 

This year, we’ve welcomed four exceptional new Creative Futures Scholars, each joining us for a paid summer internship here at our NYC headquarters—and we’re thrilled to introduce you to each of them. Read on as they share their design passions, creative inspirations, and what they're most excited to experience working alongside us this summer. 

 

Without further ado, meet the Creative Futures Class of 2026…  

Madison Valenta

From an early age, Madison was drawn to the arts—particularly fashion design and styling—as a form of storytelling. This perspective was instilled in her by her mother, an author and one of her greatest influences. “Over time, I realized that fashion is no different than writing,” Madison says. “You’re just telling a story through concept, textile, and silhouette instead of words.” 

 

While interning here at VB this summer, Madison is focusing on denim design, which she says is the ultimate illustration of fashion storytelling: “The more you wear your jeans, the more character they gain. Over time, they become uniquely yours, reflecting your experiences through every fade and crease. Denim logs memories and becomes a part of your story.” She’s looking forward to immersing herself in this realm of design, while also helping to create pieces that reflect a deep sense of intention and purpose. 

Chris Ortiz 

For Chris, fashion has always felt emotional, personal, and deeply influenced by place. “Being Puerto Rican impacts my creative expression. There’s so much pride, color, and individuality in my culture, and that naturally shows up in how I think about style and design,” he says. “Growing up in Jacksonville, then moving through Washington, LA, and now NYC, has also shown me that each destination has its own specific energy that impacts how you express yourself through clothing.” 

 

Chris’s passion for style that’s rooted in this kind of identity is one of the main reasons he’s excited to intern with us. “I’m eager to see how a brand like Veronica Beard builds and maintains such a clear, consistent point of view across media styling and storytelling, and what it takes to translate ideas into real brand visuals and campaigns,” he says. “More than anything, I want to grow and absorb as much as I can and challenge myself in a professional environment.” 

Jane Eunchong Lee

Jane describes herself as a “greedy learner” and is ready to soak up all that her time at VB has to offer. She is fascinated by the fact that a single garment is born out of “a hundred hands”—a beautiful illustration of what can be accomplished when we all work together towards one common goal. 

 

Many things inspire Jane creatively, from current events and movies to music and poetry, but she feels most inspired when she observes the work of lesser-known creatives—indie studios, students, and emerging design hopefuls, where “it’s never just about the product,” but more so the passion that goes into creating it.  

 

When it comes to the future of fashion, Jane hopes that she can help create sentimental, sustainable pieces that last, rather than ones that are centered around fleeting trends and excessive waste. 

Summer Kubota

For years, Summer had a difficult time reconciling her creative side with her Silicon Valley roots. It wasn’t until her third year at the Fashion Institute of Technology, when she designed a sportswear collection, that she found the intersection of fashion and STEM—bringing together performance textiles, engineering, and tailoring in a way that transformed her approach to design. 

 

Summer now finds things like mathematics, science, and sports to be unexpectedly inspiring when it comes to fashion, and says they can be “aestheticized and used as guidelines for how we approach design.” Ultimately, she hopes to create clothing that's as beautiful as it is functional, making intentional design accessible to as many people as possible. 
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