Net-A-Porter names Vanguard Education Fund winners

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
June 29, 2023

Students from Central Saint Martins (CSM) have swept the board as winners of Net-A-Porter’s Vanguard Education Fund for 2023, staged in partnership with the British Fashion Council (BFC). 

The four CSM winners, who are each awarded a £12,500 bursary and paired with two of the fund’s influential mentors for the academic year, are all BA Fashion Design students. 

They are: Christopher De La Cruz, Knitwear; Izzy McKinlay, Womenswear; Tj Finley, Knitwear; and Tahar Al-Shekhly, Knitwear.

The mentors for this year’s winners include Priya Ahluwalia, Toteme’s Elin Kling, Coperni founders Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud and Vaillant, Albert Ayal who’s founder of Up Next Designer.

Also on the list are fashion consultant and entrepreneur Yoyo Cao, fashion editor and consultant Camille Charrière, content director at Net-A-Porter Alice Casely-Hayford, and Libby Page who’s market director at Net-A-Porter.

In addition, the winners will benefit from 3D garment design training, to create technically advanced digitised product through true-to-life garment visualisation, enabling a reduction of waste and improved time efficiency within the sample creation process.

Net-A-Porter also said it has invested in specialised training and access to CLO, the cutting-edge 3D software, covering all associated costs for the designers for one year, to futureproof their careers by equipping them with skills to design for the metaverse.