Swarovski & CFDA announce new sustainable scholarship

The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and Swarovski’s charitable foundation have teamed up to create an annual scholarship for fashion students interested in developing sustainable systems. Full-time undergraduate students enrolled in BFA or BA programs are eligible for the scholarship.

The three-year collaboration between the CFDA and the Swarovski Foundation dubbed the Re: Generation Innovation Scholar Award will see one student earn $30,000 in addition to mentoring to help them grow their ingenuity.

A CFDA–Swarovski Foundation committee will choose scholars based on their portfolio and a virtual presentation that demonstrates their expertise, financial need, professional ability, and involvement or experience in sustainable systems. In their applications, candidates are required to incorporate the Swarovski Foundation’s core focuses of community, creative creativity, environmental stewardship, and human rights.

The CEO of CFDA, Steven Kolb said that students are the future of American fashion, and they will be at the forefront of turning today’s problems into tomorrow’s solutions. He added that they ask students to envision a new global and aware fashion industry through the Re: Generation Innovation Scholar Award. They’re excited to work with Nadja Swarovski and the Swarovski Foundation again and appreciate their support.

Swarovski and the CFDA have been partners for nearly two decades, with Swarovski sponsoring the American fashion organization’s Emerging Talent and Positive Change Awards until 2019.

Nadja Swarovski is the chair of the Swarovski Foundation and a member of the Swarovski executive board. She said that she is honored to work with the CFDA in a new capacity through the Swarovski Foundation, building on nearly two decades of collaboration. She added that the Re:Generation Innovation Scholar Award represents their joint goal of identifying, empowering, and accelerating the next generation of sustainability-focused fashion talent.

The CFDA has awarded over $2.2 million in scholarships to design students at 22 American colleges and universities since the launch of the Perry Ellis scholarship at Parsons School of Design in 1996. According to the foundation, women received 76 percent of its scholarships between 2015 and 2020, while students from “ethnic/diverse backgrounds” received 72 percent.

The CFDA will award students a total of $280,000 through its 2021 Design Scholar Awards, which include the Liz Claiborne Design for Impactful Futures Award, the Suntchi Picture Creator Award, and the Geoffrey Beene Designer Masters Scholar Award, with the introduction of the Re: Generation Creativity Scholar Award.

The CFDA and the Swarovski Foundation are also creating programming, professional development tools, learning opportunities, and knowledge services focusing on “creativity for problem-solving and sustainable innovation” for design students and the broader fashion industry as part of their ongoing partnership.