Swarovski reveals scholarship winners

Two Central Saint Martins students, one from fashion and one

from jewellery design, have been chosen as the scholarship winners for 2013/14, which will provide them with a bursary for their final year of study.

Fashion student Frances Rose Knee and jewellery design student Robyn Smith were named as the recipients of the prestigious scholarship programme, which is now in its third year. The crystal jewellery company will support them financially in their final year, and will provide resources to help them “realise their design visions”.

The pair was chosen by the scholarship’s judging panel, which included Nadja Swarovski, CSM's BA Fashion, Willie Walters, and CSM BA Jewellery Design course leader Caroline Broadhead.

Knee impressed the judges with her collection inspired “collectors, hoarders and people’s obsession with curiosities”, while Smith captured the judges attention with her large-scale, sculptural jewels crafted from silicone rubber, leather and knitted textiles.

Nadja Swarovski commented: “This year’s Swarovski Scholars are exceptional young talents whose work is considered and highly accomplished. We hope that this award will help them to grow creatively and realize their fullest potential.”

The Swarovski Scholarships were launched in 2011 to build on existing support programmes for emerging design talent at Central Saint Martins. A second scholarship programme for New York’s Parsons New School for design was initiated earlier this year, and Swarovski plans to announce additional scholarships globally in the near future.