Swarovski has announced the launch of the inaugural ‘Conscious Design’
programme as it expands its partnership with Central Saint Martins, UAL, as
it looks to become a driving force in sustainable development by inspiring
fashion students to think about sustainability in their designs.
The Conscious Design initiative is focused on motivating the next
generation of fashion designers to create their products and collections
responsibly, and by integrating sustainability into the creative learning
projects supported by the brand, and will become part of the curriculum at
Central Saint Martins for students on MA Material Futures, BA Jewellery
Design, and BA Textile Design courses.
During the summer term, each student will create work that takes unused
or reusable Swarovski crystals as the starting point, embracing sustainable
materials and concepts that have a positive social impact and addressing
real business challenges.
The Material Futures master’s degree students will explore the power of
light through Swarovski crystals and develop innovations that harness the
potential of light and inform new technological or scientific processes,
explained Swarovski, while the Jewellery design undergraduates will create
jewellery pieces that combine upcycled Swarovski crystals with other
materials, in particular ‘future materials’ that may be zero waste,
environmentally friendly or part of the circular economy.
Textile Design undergraduates will be challenged to develop new crystal
applications in print and weave designs that celebrate “cultural fusions”
in London, while working the concepts of sustainability and social purpose
into their design story.
Following completion of the programme in autumn 2019, the Swarovski
Conscious Design Hub, an online platform dedicated to the initiative, will
go live on the Central Saint Martins website. The open source hub will aim
to offer insight into sustainability in design, with creative content from
the Central Saint Martins projects, including research, drawings,
experiments, videos and podcasts by students as well as leading figures in
the creative and sustainability fields, added Swarovski in a statement.
Swarovski expands partnership with Central Saint Martins to drive
sustainability
Nadja Swarovski, member of the Swarovski Executive Board, said: “We are
delighted to reaffirm our longstanding commitments to sustainability and to
the outstanding creative education provided by Central Saint Martins with
our new Conscious Design programme and the Swarovski Foundation’s expanded
support for student scholarships.
“The hugely dedicated and talented students and faculty at Central Saint
Martins are creating much needed positive change in the fashion industry
and beyond. As a company with a 125-year heritage of innovation, creative
collaboration and responsible business it is a true pleasure to support
them on their journey.”
Jeremy Till, head of Central Saint Martins, UAL, added: “As the world
begins to recognise the full impact of the environmental crisis, it is
beholden on all of us at a personal and individual level to focus our
actions on the issues of climate emergency. I am therefore delighted that
Central Saint Martins is partnering with Swarovski on this new initiative,
which will empower our students to develop their work in a context that
spotlights their wider responsibilities as designers.”
In addition to the Conscious Design programme, the Swarovski Foundation,
the company’s charitable organisation, has stated that it will widen its
support by increasing the number of recipients to its scholarship programme
from two to eight BA students in their final year, split equally across
fashion and jewellery courses.
Swarovski added that it is currently working on educational initiatives
with 17 design schools globally including Parsons School of Design,
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and Bunka Fashion College, as it
looks to drive sustainability into the fashion design curriculum through
the use of upcycled crystal and sustainable design challenges, as it
believes that the “
transformational power of education and collaboration can make a positive
impact”.
Swarovski has partnered with BA Jewellery Design students at Central
Saint Martins for over 18 years on numerous projects, and since 2011, the
Swarovski Foundation has supported two final year BA students at Central
Saint Martins, one in Jewellery Design and one in Fashion.
Images: courtesy of Swarovski
