Monsoon and Accessorize are pleased to announce a new commitment to funding scholarships to trailblazing students at London College of Fashion (LCF) and Central Saint Martins (CSM), University of the Arts London (UAL).
To date, Monsoon and Accessorize has supported two students as part of a pilot year, an LCF MA Fashion Futures student and a sponsored PhD at CSM. After this successful pilot year, applications for new Monsoon Accessorize MA Fashion Futures Student Scholarship are now being considered for September 2024.
To be eligible to apply for the scholarship, students must have been accepted on to the MA Fashion Futures course at LCF, UAL and must already have a demonstrable commitment to sustainability.
Monsoon and Accessorize are considering proposals that address any of the following areas:
- Regenerative fashion, including raw materials, processes and design.
- Zero-waste design and digital innovation, including solutions for pre-consumer waste and products that fail quality control.
Applications are welcome from those who are in financial hardship and those who will benefit from postgraduate studies to realise their full potential.
The move is part of the business’s interest in sustainability and innovation in fashion. As a lifestyle brand that enriches everyday life with natural beauty, positivity and endless discovery, we are passionate about connecting contemporary designs with a network of craftspeople. Through this scholarship, Monsoon and Accessorize aim to support one LCF MA Fashion Futures student to help further sustainable thinking, aligned with our goals, and ultimately to drive sustainability within the fashion industry.
Sarabi Hawke is the first LCF MA Fashion Futures student to benefit from the Monsoon Accessorize scholarship.
As a passionate crochet artist, Sarabi started to host crochet workshops in the communities, and realised how the act of creating something together can both bond and inspire a community.
“I found that these were really good spaces to be able to talk the importance of craft, about how great handmade pieces are, and to redefine the value we place on clothing,” she says.
But she thought she could use them to even greater effect, and her MA is allowing her to research how best to do that.
“Are the people at these craft workshops just having a nice time and then going home? When really, they could be spaces for activism, for protests, for resistance, for community healing. I’m looking at a term called ‘ecological reclamation’, which is about connecting with the space around you.
“I’m using fashion as a tool of making and creating and having fun while engaging with these topics,” she says.
Based at the Living Systems Lab Research Group at CSM, UAL, Cassandra Quinn is a PHD student who received a scholarship from Monsoon and Accessorize. She is researching how to use wastewater to grow materials for the fashion industry that can be used in a meaningful way.
“I’m experimenting with different microorganisms to see what can remove the contaminants that are in it that can then be turned into pigments, bio plastics, bio resins, fibers or coatings to be used in clothes design,” she says.
“The idea is to create this system where everything is reused, where everything is a resource for another product or material or textile,” she says.
Nick Stowe, CEO of Monsoon Accessorize, says: “We have developed a great working relationship with UAL on a number of sustainability and innovation projects, and we’re proud to be able to support their students directly via these scholarships. UAL’s Fashion Futures course is groundbreaking and, more broadly, UAL provide an incredible platform for research and innovation in our industry. We see these scholarships as just one part of our investment in creating a better future for fashion, investing in the people making real change. We’re excited to see how Sarabi’s and Cassandra’s research progresses.”
Polly Mackenzie, Chief Social Purpose Officer, UAL, says: “We are delighted to be working with Monsoon Accessorize to provide these brilliant scholarships for our students. This opportunity is an invaluable contribution to our commitment as UAL to create a better world through research and partnerships that target the sectors that matter. These scholarships play a vital role in supporting our students in creating a cleaner fashion industry that is rooted in sustainability and ethical practice.”
