Tasting the American Dream

Although she grew up in Israel and London, Jordan Cohen sounds unmistakably American. Maybe it’s the Nickelodeon and Disney shows she absorbed as a kid, or the fact that her mother baked a version of apple pie that became a family staple. Or maybe it’s something deeper — a fervent pursuit of the American dream that shaped her sense of belonging long before she arrived in the States.

That ambition carried her across the Atlantic — first for a graduate degree at Cornell, then straight into the high-stakes world of New York finance, and eventually into fashion. “Success here is visible,” she says, reflecting on what drew her to the U.S. For Jordan, the move was a chance to step into the world she’d long envisioned, one where the Americana she admired from afar really did echo the images she grew up watching on screen.

Now, as co-creator of Fashion Forward, Jordan is writing a new chapter of her own. The organization, launched in May 2025, is a growing community of founders, creatives, students, and professionals working in — or eager to break into — the fashion industry. With over 1,000 members already, Fashion Forward is becoming a hub where collaborators find each other: founders meet investors, students meet mentors, job seekers meet hirers.

In just a few months, Fashion Forward has co-hosted events with Brooklyn Fashion Week, New York Swim Collective, 99 Yards, and Beacon Quarterly, reaching more than 5,000 people. “You never know where opportunities will present themselves,” Jordan says, a belief that has carried her across continents and industries alike.

An Israeli childhood, a London adolescence, an American adulthood — each adds a distinct layer to her identity. From her mother’s apple pie to her own life in the Big Apple, Jordan’s story is shaped by both longing and arrival — a fusion of heritage and aspiration that feels quintessentially American.