Net-a-porter invests in the young talents of tomorrow with the Vanguard program

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

The program is to provide financial support to women's clothing designers and provide each of them with two personalities of industry that will help mentor them for 12 months. 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 actress Jessica Jung; Alice Casely-Hayford, Content Director at Net-a-porter, and Libby Page, Market Director at Net-a-porter.

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Designers Miss Sohee and Grace Ling, who are both ported to Net-a-porter, se will join the larger Vanguard program and are featured in its standalone campaign.

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

Young designers will receive training in 3D clothing design as part of the program to reduce waste when creating samples. Net-a-porter will cover the costs of the 3D CLO software.

In July, Yoox Net-a-porter collaborated with About You and Zalando on a platform of tailored learning that teaches their partner brands how to align more sustainably with science.

"Our goal is to continually expand our mentorship programs and be able to offer learnings from our long-standing Vanguard program for college students marks an exciting new step in our work to ensure emerging designers have the tools they need to succeed in their careers.

"The supporting campaign celebrates the best fashion from the industry's most talented designers, featuring showcasing the individuality and high caliber of the brands launched as part of The Vanguard,” Page said.