Westminster Fashion Design BA Honours student Renee-Shanel Edwards received the Education Fund. This fund, running in partnership with the British Fashion Council, provides financial support and dedicated mentoring to final year university students.
This year, the Education Fund expanded its partnership with Yoox Net-A Porter’s luxury in-season sites Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter alongside the joint launch of their mentorship programme, The Vanguard. The programme helps emerging designers with more business development support, and this year, three new designers from all over the world, including the Carribean, New York, London and India, are set to benefit from the scheme. The designers have been selected partly for their commitment to responsible design and sustainability.
The designers got involved in the expansion of the Education Fund which is now in its third year, and as part of the programme, it supports BA final-year university students as they embark on their careers. The application is open to those from the BFC Colleges Council, which Westminster is a member of, as well as Parsons School of Design, Politecnico di Milano, Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Australia and Future Excellence Design Institute South Africa (FEDISA) Fashion School Cape Town.
Winners will receive a cash prize and global coverage via Porter and The Journal, while being paired with internal mentors from the two sites for a year. This year’s panel of mentors include Interim CEO and President of the two sites Alison Loehnis; Greg Chait, Founder and CEO of The Elder Statesman; Executive Digital Director of Harper’s Bazaar US Lynette Nylander; Julie Ragolia, Stylist and Creative Consultant; Sophia Li, Journalist, Climate Advocate and Public Speaker; and CEO of Textile Exchange Claire Bergkamp.
Westminster student Renee-Shanel, alongside three other students from universities across the UK, was awarded the Fund. About the student’s achievement, Robert Leach, Course Leader of the Fashion Design BA Honours course, said: “We at Westminster, the students and the course team, are indebted to the amazing initiative from NET-A-PORTER’s Vanguard Education Fund in partnership with the British Fashion Council. The financial support and mentoring of final-year students are an incredible resource for them, as they graduate and enter the fashion industry.”
The initiative and the designers’ work respectively contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities and 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
Find out more about the Fashion courses at Westminster.
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