Help Us Find the Country's Best Young Designers

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're excited to announce the launch of Racked Young Guns, our search for the next wave of up-and-coming designers. All across the nation, creative people are hard at work making gorgeous objects. With Young Guns, we're planning to find them, showcase them, and celebrate them—and maybe help you do some shopping in the process.

When we say "designers," mind, we don't necessarily mean the next Alexander McQueen (though obviously we'll take him). We're also looking for local indie heroes, flea market superstars, art-school grads making must-have jewelry and selling it at local boutiques. The rules are simple: Nominees have to be under the age of 35, or their collection has to be less than two years old, and they have to be based in the U.S.

We want Racked Young Guns to be the most democratic of fashion awards, so we're opening up the nomination process to everyone. Yes, everyone. Starting right this second, we're asking for your suggestions here. The nomination process will be open through the end of April, and you can definitely send in more than one name.

Once we've amassed our talent, the fun really begins. We'll put their work in front of a panel of industry leaders including top designers, boutique owners, style bloggers, and fashion entrepreneurs, and ask them to help us pick the very best. To make the process transparent, we'll be documenting every step on Racked. And once we have our winners, we'll fête them all summer long.

Know someone who deserves to be honored as a Young Gun? We want to hear about it! Fill out the nomination form here; if you have additional supporting materials, please send them our way at youngguns@racked.com.
· Racked Young Guns Official Nomination Form [Racked]