Ford Motor Company is looking to discover sustainable designers of the future with the launch of the first-ever Ford Design Grant. The inaugural grant will reward three promising fashion design students – living in Asia or Europe – by giving them access to Ford’s sustainable fabrics for their designs, together with a supporting financial grant of US$1,000.
The three selected winners will each be asked to use the grant to develop a high-fashion outfit with fabrics provided by Ford, to showcase runway-ready designs that have minimal environmental impact. The students will be provided with a collection of sustainable fabrics, one of which is made from recycled plastic bottles and utilized to make Ford car seats.
“Here at Ford, we recognize the critical impact of design on the environment and are always looking for innovative ways to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Chelsia Lau, chief designer, Strategic Concepts Group, Ford Motor Company. “Over the past decade we’ve found more ways to build greener cars, using eco-friendly materials like recycled plastic bottles, shredded cotton, kenaf, wheat straw, soy beans and castor oil.”
As well as giving young designers a unique, high-profile opportunity to display their skills and creativity using Ford’s sustainable fabric, the grant is an effort to raise awareness on the importance of sustainability in design.
“Through this grant, we want to encourage students to be creative and innovative in their work by experimenting with alternative fabrics, as well as enlighten them to have a different perspective about fashion production,” said Lau. “By giving students these resources and tools, we are helping to shape the next generation of leaders in sustainable design.”
With the Philippines having its own creative pool of budding fashion designers, Ford Philippines is confident that this grant will be a good platform for young designers to showcase their talent and creativity in creating ‘eco-fashion.’
Applications for the Ford Design Grant are now available at the Ford Design Grant website: www.digitalsnippets.ford.com/fordgrant. Deadline of submission of applications is on November 30, 2015 and the announcement of grant winners will be made in January 2016.