13 Best Fashion and Creative Scholarships to Apply For in 2024
Forget the dusty old textbooks – ignite your creative spark with a financial fuel injection! A constellation of scholarships awaits, beckoning ambitious adults like you to dive headfirst into the vibrant world of fashion and creative fields. No matter your age or background, these opportunities are stepping stones, propelling you from dream weaver to runway reality.
Think beyond the humdrum of everyday life. Imagine sculpting your vision in a sun-drenched Parisian atelier, or weaving the threads of social change with a prestigious fellowship. These scholarships aren't handouts – they're investments in your brilliance, recognizing the potential that hums just beneath the surface. So polish your portfolio until it gleams, craft essays that sing with passion, and let your unique voice resound.
Remember, these aren't just financial lifelines – they're catalysts for transformative experiences. Immerse yourself in world-renowned programs, network with industry titans, and push your creative boundaries further than ever before. This is your chance to trade fluorescent-lit cubicles for vibrant studios, to replace rush-hour commutes with inspiration at every turn.
So, take a deep breath and set your sights on the horizon. Let these scholarships be the wind in your sails, propelling you towards a future brimming with creative fulfillment and professional success. The world awaits your unique vision – step out of the shadows, claim your scholarship, and rewrite the narrative of your artistic journey. It's time to unleash your inner maestro – the stage is yours!
This wonderful list was put together by Ahmrii Lorraine and you can check out her work here.
Fashion Scholarship Fund
ABOUT:
Founded in 1937, the FSF started as the Young Menswear Association (YMA), an informal group educating the next generation of professionals. Over 80 years later, YMA has evolved into the Fashion Scholarship Fund (FSF), the oldest and foremost fashion-oriented education and workforce development nonprofit in the country.
The FSF raises millions of dollars every year from individual and corporate sponsors such as: Burlington Stores, Coach, Eric Emanuel, Levi Strauss & Co., LVMH, Macy's, Neiman Marcus Group, Nordstrom, PVH, Ralph Lauren, and SKIMS. And although the name has changed, our mission remains the same. The FSF is — and always has been —investing in the fashion industry’s most promising up-and-coming young talent.
ELIGIBILITY:
- You must be a full-time sophomore, junior, or senior (graduating Spring 2025) enrolled in an FSF member school.
Fashion For All Foundation
ABOUT:
Fashion For All Foundation (FFA) came into existence as a result of a Silent Demonstration protesting unlawful killings by police officers. The demonstration took place during the July 2016 New York Fashion Week Men's shows outside of Skylight Clarkson. Led by organizer Hannah Stoudemire, the demonstration served as a jumping off point for a much larger vision to take root — Fashion For All Foundation.
It was at the suggestion of Co-founder Ali Richmond, to actually form the foundation after such a strong response from the media and press surrounding the Silent Protest. This suggestion took place during a conversation the two Co-founders had the very next day. Ali offered that Hannah turn the successful protest, which was a "powerful moment" into a "powerful movement". He proposed that the two join forces and form a foundation to continue the work of creating awareness, promoting diversity and equality in the fashion industry for all people. Today, Hannah and Ali can be found working on FFA's mission on a full time basis. They operate out of their Brooklyn based headquarters that doubles as a showroom and workspace for the student programming that takes place during the summer months.
Check out the article that Vogue wrote about the protest Here.
ELIGIBILITY:
- Minority Creatives Ages 18 - 40 Years Old Who Identify As BIPOC ( Black, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Alaskan Native, Desi, Asian, Pacific Islander, Chicanx or Latinx)
- Must Be Actively Pursuing A Career In The Fashion, Arts, Or Creative Industry
Teen Vogue Generation Next
ABOUT:
Our mission is to give young designers* resources that will set them up for success, bringing them together with fashion industry insiders to create critical networking opportunities and foster new relationships.
ELIGIBILITY:
- Only open to legal residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia who are at least 18 years old as of the date of entry.
Gucci Changemakers
ABOUT:
Gucci‘s Changemakers Programme, the fashion house’s initiative that helps support emerging student designers, has done great numbers throughout North America, aiding over 50 non-profit organizations with grants and providing scholarships to 70 college students. Gucci recently announced the Programme’s expansion into the UK, which sees the house partner with the University of the Arts London’s (UAL) London College of Fashion (LCF) to continue offering multidisciplinary scholarships to a new group of university students who face financial barriers.
ELIGIBILITY:
- Undergraduate students with unmet financial needs who are passionate about careers in the fashion and creative industries.
- The program primarily focuses on students from diverse backgrounds who live or study in one of the 12 Gucci North America Changemakers cities or plan to attend or currently attend a Historically Black College and University (HBCU).
CFDA Scholarship Fund
ABOUT:
For undergraduate juniors and first-year graduate students, enrolled in a fashion design program at an American college/ university.
Committed to supporting American fashion designers of tomorrow who are building a more inclusive, just, and equitable future for people and planet, the CFDA Scholarship Fund has awarded approximately $3.3 million and 352 scholarships between 1996 and 2022.
Annually, the CFDA discovers exemplary student talent capable to lead and captain change in the global fashion ecosystem. Recipients are selected using a holistic criteria of financial need, creativity, innovation, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and sustainability in fashion. Thanks to the donors of the CFDA Scholarship Fund, CFDA continues to invest in the future of American fashion.
* The 2023 CFDA Scholarship Fund is made possible through CFDA donation by American Express, Avani Gregg, Eddie Bauer, Geoffrey Beene Foundation, Jack Carlson, Creative Director of Rowing Blazers, Liz Claiborne & Art Ortenberg Foundation, Swarovski Foundation, Versace, and the Walton Personal Philanthropy Group.
ELIGIBILITY:
- For undergraduate juniors and first-year graduate students, enrolled in a fashion design program at an American college/ university.
RAISE Fashion
ABOUT:
RAISEfashion was founded in July 2020, in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. As people across the world stand in solidarity to confront the systemic oppression and contemporary reality of racial injustice, we feel compelled to reflect more closely on the opportunity and responsibility of the workers in the fashion world to cultivate a more diverse industry, one that actively promotes and fosters BIPOC-owned businesses and BIPOC individuals.
We started by asking ourselves the question, how can we as individuals actively participate in this movement, using our tools and personal skillset to help others?
By coming together to share our knowledge and experiences, we can work towards dismantling the racial bias and hurdles that undermine the success and potential of many BIPOC-owned brands. In establishing this community, we hope that our diverse experiences will result in a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
ELIGIBILITY:
- BIPOC designers with a brand and the intention to scale.
CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund
ABOUT:
CFDA and Vogue believe in the young American designer community and want to continue to nurture, support, and empower it. In 2023, the program will return to its original competition format with the incorporation of A Common Thread’s mission. The updated program will award a competition winner and runners-up a monetary prize, while still creating meaningful business mentorships and a pathway to success for all finalists.
ELIGIBILITY:
- Designers eligible to apply must be in business for a minimum of 2 years. Their primary business must be based in the United States, should have no more than thirty full-time employees, and not exceed a total revenue of 10 million dollars per year.
Fashion Trust U.S.
ABOUT:
The FASHION TRUST U.S. is a nonprofit initiative dedicated to discovering, funding, and nurturing young design talent with the aim of helping them build their label into a thriving global brand.
Winners are awarded financial grants and mentorships covering budget, strategy, digital, merchandising, and general business support.
To help bring attention to the initiative and assemble a strong group of Patrons and Donors, the Fashion Trust U.S. will be guided under the leadership of Laura Brown, Anne Crawford, Tania Fares, Tan France, and Karla Welch, with Hanna Isaksson as director.
U.S.-based designers in business (Ready-to-Wear, Jewelry and Accessories) for at least two to seven years, as well as recent graduates will be invited to apply to the Fashion Trust. Following a review by a board of industry leaders, the winners and grants will be announced at the prestigious annual Fashion Trust U.S. Awards in April 2024.
ELIGIBILITY:
- U.S.-based designers in business (Ready-to-Wear, Jewelry and Accessories) for at least two to seven years, as well as recent graduates will be invited to apply to the Fashion Trust.
LVMH Prize
ABOUT:
Driven by a “passion for creativity”, LVMH launched in 2013 the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers. This patronage embodies the commitment of the Group and its Houses towards today’s young designers who will be tomorrow’s rising stars.
Each year, the LVMH Prize rewards young fashion designers, selected for their talent and outstanding creativity. Thanks to the mentorship and the endowment enjoyed by the winners, the LVMH Prize enables the emergence of a new generation of designers.
Because both its roots and its future are intimately linked to creativity, LVMH and its brands have always actively nourished creative talent.
ELIGIBILITY:
- The LVMH Prize is open to designers from all over the world, aged 18 to 40, who have created at least two womenswear, menswear or genderless collections.
Loewe Foundation Studio Voltaire Award
ABOUT:
Established in 2021, the LOEWE FOUNDATION / Studio Voltaire Award benefits seven artists with two years of support through rent-free studio space, professional development opportunities and a bursary.
The award has been developed in direct response to the need for affordable and secure workspace for artists in London, the availability of which has decreased significantly. The award aims to support artists who experience reduced opportunities due to economic precarity and limited financial means.
The LOEWE FOUNDATION / Studio Voltaire Award aims to cultivate spaces where artists can connect in a supportive studio environment that facilitates creative possibilities, risk-taking, experimentation and exchange.
The LOEWE FOUNDATION / Studio Voltaire Award celebrates talent, individuality and original thinking within contemporary art practice. The award supports artists at all stages of their careers, including emerging and under-represented artists, particularly those who are marginalised or experience intersecting forms of discrimination.
The programme aims to increase and strengthen equitable representation and access and amplify artistic voices across class, race, gender, sexuality and disability.
ELIGIBILITY:
- Artists who experience reduced opportunities due to economic precarity and limited financial means.
Redress Design Award
ABOUT:
Each competition cycle takes participants on an educational journey lasting several theory- and design-packed months. We work to educate designers about fashion’s negative environmental impacts, whilst inspiring them to use the core sustainable design techniques of zero-waste, upcycling, and reconstruction to cut waste out of fashion. Through our university talks, sustainable fashion workshops, the online Redress Academy, Redress Circular Fashion Design Course, and in partnership with more than 170 universities around the world, we provide young designers with the theory and techniques to help them understand the new circular economy and capitalise on its global potential for the fashion industry.
We then challenge participants to flex their creative genius and prove that they have the ingenuity and conviction to transform textile waste into stunning, scalable and commercially viable collections that will inspire and redress the world.
ELIGIBILITY:
- Aged 18 years or over as of application closing date of 15 March 2024
- Hold a valid ID/passport/visa/residence permit in your country of residence
- Have less than four years’ professional fashion design experience* at the time of application
- Have a reasonable level of English to be able to take part in activities conducted in English*
- Are applying as an individual (group applications are not permitted)
Loewe Craft Prize
ABOUT:
Founded in 1988 by Enrique Loewe Lynch, a descendant of the Loewe fashion house's founders, the Loewe Foundation is a private cultural institution dedicated to fostering creativity and artistic expression. Their mission extends beyond just supporting established artists. The Loewe Foundation actively promotes educational programs and safeguards artistic heritage across a diverse range of fields, including poetry, dance, photography, visual art, and most notably, craftsmanship.Through initiatives like the Loewe Craft Prize, they actively discover and elevate the work of talented craftspeople,ensuring these traditional skills continue to thrive in the modern era.
The LOEWE FOUNDATION launches the seventh edition of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize, an international award celebrating excellence in craftsmanship. They seeks to recognize uniquely talented artisans whose artistic vision and will to innovate set new standards for the future of craft. The prize for the winning entry is 50,000 euros. The shortlisted and winning works will feature in the exhibition and accompanying catalogue in Paris in spring 2024.
ELIGIBILITY:
- All participants must be professional artisans 18 years or older. Entries may be made by an individual or collective (as a ‘group submission’). All nationalities are welcome.
Silver Art Projects
ABOUT:
Silver Art Projects is a non-profit organization that provides artists with free, year-long studio spaces and career development opportunities that accelerate and enhance their artistic practice at 4 World Trade Center.
Founded in 2019 in response to change models of structural systems that perpetuate a culture of inequity, Silver Art Projects supports artists with critically needed studio space in NYC to nurtured and build thriving practices while also contributing to the creative ecosystem of Lower Manhattan. In addition to studio space, Silver Art Projects provides professional development opportunities and connections with museum curators, art leaders, galleries, collectors, thought and business leaders, peer to peer and artist mentors, and others to change artist’s lives and enhance careers.
ELIGIBILITY:
- Artists who have a focus on incorporating themes of social justice and activism within their work.
