Royal College of Art launches Virgil Abloh Scholarship

The Royal College of Art (RCA) in London has announced its RCA Virgil Abloh Scholarship, a new scholarship for disadvantaged Black British students, as per a press release sent out by the school.

From the next academic year, every academic year a selected Black British student will receive a full tuition fee scholarship with a total value of 35,000 pounds (about 40,000 euros), which includes maintenance support, for a postgraduate programme of their choice at the RCA School of Design, including Fashion, Textiles, Design Products, Service Design and Intelligent Mobility, among others.

The aim of the new scholarship is to “help break down barriers to education and support the next generation of visionary designers and innovators,” the RCA explains in the release, by “enabling the selected Virgil Abloh scholar” to “study without financial constraints.”

This way, the college aims to recognise Virgil’s support for education and his legacy of fighting hard to create social change as an advocate for equality of opportunity across the creative industries.

The RCA Virgil Abloh Scholarship will provide the selected students with industry experience as well as networking opportunities, all while receiving guidance from British fashion designer Samuel Ross.

Virgil Abloh was named Honorary Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Art in 2020 and “made a significant impact on the RCA community, “embodying” the college’s “spirit of collaboration and ingenuity, the release reads, “and he hoped to enable students from across the College to benefit from his wealth of experience as a leading figure in international fashion and design.”

“Virgil’s energy and intention was truly something else. This amazing legacy will offer young black British designers an opportunity where, I have no doubt, they will feel his power and continue forth to inspire and create even more change,” Zowie Broach, Head of the MA Fashion Programme at RCA, said in a statement.

The RCA Virgil Abloh Scholarship was established with the help of Shannon Abloh, Virgil Abloh’s late wife, and the US Fashion Scholarship Fund who received a generous anonymous donation via the US branch of the RCA.

Ms Abloh, CEO of Virgil Abloh Securities, said in the release: “Over the years, the RCA and Virgil formed a beautiful relationship based on the shared appreciation of collaboration, creative vision, and of course, education. We know that the RCA Virgil Abloh Scholarship will break down financial barriers to fulfilling creative potential and empower talented young individuals to dream even bigger,” she concluded.