CFDA and Swarovski launch Generation Innovation Scholar Award

The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and Austrian crystal maker Swarovski have created an annual scholarship for fashion students to design a more sustainable fashion future.

The Generation Innovation Scholar Award includes an annual 30,000 dollar scholarship for one student and mentorship opportunities for fashion students to advance innovative design thinking within sustainable systems.

“Students are the future of American fashion and will be leading the charge in transforming today’s challenges into tomorrow’s solutions,” said Steven Kolb, CEO of the CFDA, in a release.

“Creative ingenuity is a prerequisite for impactful innovation in sustainable and lasting change. Through the Generation Innovation Scholar Award, we look to students to imagine a new global and conscious fashion industry.”

Nadja Swarovski, executive board Swarovski Foundation, added: “Design students have a unique ability to use the creative process to examine sustainable development and lay the foundations of a new and better future for this industry. Their creative expression through fashion is a vehicle for evolution – not only for trailblazing concepts and products but also for societal changes in thinking and behavior.”

The new scholarship opportunity is open to full-time undergraduate university students. Candidates are chosen from the Swarovski Foundation committee based on a portfolio review and virtual presentation, demonstrating their talent or strengths in sustainable systems, professional potential, and financial need.

Image: CFDA