Net-a-porter Invests in the Young Talents With Vanguard Program – WWD

LONDON — Net-a-porter has unveiled the four winners of its inaugural Vanguard Education Fund award in partnership with the British Fashion Council for final year university students.

The program entails helping the womenswear designers financially and providing them each with two industry figures that will help mentor them for 12 months. The mentors include Eva Chen, director of fashion partnerships at Instagram; fashion designers Christopher John Rogers, Conner Ives and Catherine Holstein; Julia Sarr-Jamois, fashion director at British Vogue; musician and actor Jessica Jung; Alice Casely-Hayford, content director at Net-a-porter, and Libby Page, market director at Net-a-porter.

Designers Miss Sohee and Grace Ling, who are both carried on Net-a-porter, will be joining the broader Vanguard program and are featured in its standalone campaign.

The winners of the award are Ben Davis from Kingston School of Art; Maissane Zinai and Renato Bras, both from Central Saint Martins, and Finlay Roberts from Falmouth University.

The young designers will be receiving 3D garment-design training as part of the program in order to reduce waste when creating samples. Net-a-porter will cover the costs of the 3D software CLO.

In July, Yoox Net-a-porter collaborated with About You and Zalando on a bespoke learning platform that teaches their brand partners how to be more sustainably aligned with science.

“Our goal is to continually expand our mentorship programs, and being able to offer learnings from our long-standing Vanguard program to university students marks an exciting next step in our work to ensure emerging designers have the tools they need for a successful career.

“The supporting campaign celebrates the best fashion from the most talented up-and-coming designers in the industry, showcasing the individuality and high caliber of brands launched as part of The Vanguard,” Page said.