Honest By, the pioneering fashion company founded by Belgian designer Bruno Pieters, which centers itself on price and production transparency as well as sustainability, has announced a new initiative, the 2014/2015 Future Fashion Designer Scholarship (FFDS).The first scholarship of its kind, the FFDS aims to offer financial support to an exceptional student who wants to develop his or her MA collection in a responsible and transparent way. The winner will receive a €10.000 cash prize to develop his or her MA collection, and receive guidance and mentoring from Pieters himself.
Honest By, the pioneering fashion company founded by Belgian designer Bruno Pieters, which centers itself on price and production transparency as well as sustainability, has announced a new initiative, the 2014/2015 Future Fashion Designer Scholarship (FFDS).
The first scholarship of its kind, the FFDS aims to offer financial support to an exceptional student who wants to develop his or her MA collection in a responsible and transparent way. The winner will receive a €10.000 cash prize to develop his or her MA collection, and receive guidance and mentoring from Pieters himself.
Students from all over the world are invited to apply. The FFDS does not require that applicants were working in a sustainable way within their previous work. Students will first and foremost be judged and chosen according to their design skills and technical innovations. Students from both garment and accessory programs can apply.
Pieters says the winner of the FFDS will work in a 100 percent transparent manner, use sustainable materials where possible and create new and innovative alternatives for animal-based materials such as fur, feathers and skins.
“The FFDS is a dream that I've had ever since I launched Honest by two years ago and now we finally made time for it,” Pieters said in a statement. “At Honest by, we believe that the story behind the design needs to be as beautiful as the design itself. We are convinced that is crucial today to show appreciation and support those students who share this philosophy. The FFDS wants to reward young, independent minds who want to work in a progressive and responsible way. There are many student prizes today that encourage students to continue working in the existing fashion mould. True change can happen if we encourage students today to adopt a new and progressive fashion behaviour. That is what we want to do with the FFDS.”
Deadline for applications is August 25, 2014. The winner of the first FFDS will be announced in September 2014.
The Rana Plaza factory collapse in April 2013 was a much-needed wake-up call to the fashion industry that highlighted the need for more transparent, traceable and accountable textile supply chains. Progress is slowly being made, as brands such as H&M begin to disclose their supplier lists and take steps to improve working conditions. But movements such as Fashion Revolution Day aim to remind us that significant improvements must continue to be made on an industry-wide scale.
Published Jun 19, 2014 3pm EDT / 12pm PDT / 8pm BST / 9pm CEST