Resilience. It’s the one word that best describes this year’s CFDA scholarship recipients. More than at any time in recent memory – with the current state of the world and its long lasting economic impact – our commitment to providing student scholarships to contribute to tuition and education expenses is a CFDA priority. Therefore, we are extremely excited to award a total of $175,000 in scholarships this year.
The CFDA Design Scholar Award’s two recipients are Chris Pleasant of Virginia Commonwealth University, and Yanbing Fan of Academy of Art University.
Pleasant’s goal as a designer is to reinforce principles like slowness, care, and honesty. Fan’s collection, titled Heroes in Harm’s Way, was inspired by medical workers.
The winner of the Geoffrey Beene Design Masters Scholar Award is Milijana Delic of Academy of Art University. With a background in science, Delic experimented the similarities between fashion design and industrial design and challenged gender dichotomy.
Daniela Gutierrez Arreguin of Savannah College of Art and Design received the 2020 Liz Claiborne Design for Impactful Futures Scholar Award. A fashion activist, Gutierrez is raising awareness of the climate crisis we live in.
Additionally, through the support of Chief Executive Officer of New World Development and K11 Group Founder Adrian Cheng, this year we introduced two additional scholarships celebrating talent within fashion design-based technology and innovation. The winners are Mohua Goswami of Fashion Institute of Technology, and Uyen Tran of Parsons School of Design. Combining culture and science, Goswami reimagined ancient Indian approaches to sustainability. And as a sustainable textile designer, Tran independently developed a technique which addresses the problem with plastic-based materials including vegan leather and used waste from coffee and seafood to make a new leather-like material.
“It’s an honor to support the education of young talent in the fashion industry, which underlines our commitment to empowering the next generation of changemakers around the world through the power of culture, creativity, innovation and sustainability,” said Adrian Cheng. “Seeing the passion and ingenuity of all seven of these students in their efforts to create beautiful yet sustainable pieces give me tremendous faith in the bright future of design.”
Meanwhile, through the support of Suntchi, China’s leading fashion, lifestyle and entertainment company, we introduced a new special scholarship award celebrating talent within image-making and curation this year. The winner: Eliana Batsakis of School of Art Institute of Chicago, describes herself as a world builder. She used fashion to bring her reoccurring Tim-Burton-fantasy-world-dream where she would travel to a garden come to life; reminding us to make time for self-reflection and self-care.
“It is a great honor for Suntchi to set up the scholarship with CFDA as part of our strategic partnership,” said Suntchi Founder Paul Fang. “We believe in these young talents’ potential and creativity and are pleased to provide opportunity for them to express and showcase their work in the Chinese market in the future.”
Congratulations to all the 2020 scholarship winners, as well as the honorable mentions:
2020 CFDA Design Scholar Award Honorable Mention
Kylie Carroll, Virginia Commonwealth University
2020 CFDA Design Scholar K11 Innovation Award | BFA/BA Undergraduate Honorable Mention
Yitao Li, Fashion Institute of Technology
2020 CFDA Design Scholar K11 Innovation Award | MFA/MA Graduate Masters Honorable Mention
Evaristo Pereira, Savannah College of Art and Design
2020 CFDA Design Scholar Suntchi Image-Maker Award Honorable Mention
Sidonia Wu, Parsons School of Design
2020 Geoffrey Beene Design Masters Scholar Award Honorable Mention
Camerin Stoldt, Fashion Institute of Technology
2020 Liz Claiborne Design for Impactful Futures Scholar Award Honorable Mention
Rashida Birdlong, Academy of Art University
