CFDA Scholarship

Margot Yubin Kim

 

 

 

 

 

Each year, The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) invites fifteen of the leading fashion institutions from around the country to participate in the “CFDA Scholarship Competition”. Students enrolled during their junior year of undergraduate studies may enter the competition and are required to produce a collection showcased in a portfolio containing 10-15 designs.  Categories include womenswear, menswear, and accessories; these may be augmented by special interest ideas such as swimwear, activewear, intimate apparel, beach wear, etc.  In addition to awarding scholarship money to the top ten junior students, the CFDA Scholarship Committee may also recognize the strongest portfolios from the participating schools with an ‘Honorable Mention’ Award.

As a precursor to the more fully realized and contextual senior year portfolio, the assignment allows spring semester junior an opportunity to immerse themselves more fully into the design process over the course of five weeks.  Consisting of collected research, a written essay that articulates the collection’s concepts, fabric research and development, extensive croquis design development, and final illustrations with ‘flats’, the end product represents an edited summation of the collection housed in a portfolio that supports the design aesthetic.

For the 2009 competition, Parsons BFA Fashion Design students won five awards.  Niloufar Mozafari and Atsuko Yagi won first place awards and received $10,000 in scholarship each, Trey Phillips and Dylan Moran Taverner won second place awards and received $5,000 in scholarship each, and Atsuko Yagi also won the Clara Hancox Scholarship Award for Menswear.

Images shown here represent the Parsons 2007-2008 winners, check back for portfolios from the 2009 winners in a few months!