Sustainability education is vital for fashion & art students, and we are happy to see that Parsons School of Design is committed to training designers who are prepared to address urgent issues in the fashion industry.
On Earth Day 2017, YOOX and The New School Parsons’ School of Design announced their partnership, which will focus on YOOXYGEN, YOOX’s socially and environmentally responsible destination, to promote sustainable fashion practices through education and collaborations.
The partnership also establishes the YOOXYGEN Award, to be presented to a graduating BFA Fashion Design student of Parsons School of Design during its 69th Annual Benefit on May 22, 2017. The award will consist of a six-month internship at the YOOX Headquarters in Milan, beginning in July 2017, and the creation of a sustainable Spring/Summer womenswear collection under the graduate’s signature. The collection will be promoted and exclusively available on YOOX in January 2018.
“In 2009, when YOOXYGEN debuted online, we were amongst the first to acknowledge the importance of responsible choices in fashion,” affirms Federico Marchetti, Founder of YOOX and CEO of YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP. “Today, we take a step further: our partnership with Parsons combines our commitment towards education and our desire to encourage sustainable fashion choices. We are convinced that the next generations of talents will drive a more sustainable fashion agenda and we feel it is our responsibility to empower them.”
Parsons BFA Fashion Design students are encouraged to consider fashion design as a vehicle to address urgent and current societal problems, which include climate change and sustainability. The partnership with YOOX will be an important first step for the winning student in expanding the efforts of the fashion community to engage with sustainable design, creating meaningful change. An additional six-month internship will be awarded to a second student at YOOX’s offices in New York beginning in September 2017.
Furthermore, Parsons and YOOX will jointly define a variety of self-guiding principles that will regulate sustainable matters as they apply to the fashion industry, including responsible consumption, fair production and trade, low-environmental impact, and the empowerment of local craftsmanship, among others. The principles created will be adopted by YOOXYGEN to determine the selection of brands available on the site, giving customers the opportunity to make a conscious choice while shopping on YOOX.
