Building a viable business for the long run goes far beyond just racking up cred on social media, as most business owners will probably tell you. Enter the Vanguard program, an initiative introduced by Net-a-Porter in 2018 to mentor young labels in the whys and hows of building a successful business. The e-commerce giant says it has to date supported 25 brands through this program, 56 per cent of which are established by BIPOC (black, indigenous, and other people of color).
A look by South African designer Sindiso Khumalo.
This year, the program is ramping things up further. The newest slate features six emerging names: Khiry Fine, Renaissance Renaissance, Sindiso Khumalo, Connor Ives, Interior and Lukhanyo Mdingi – and this Class of ’21 cohort will have their own exclusive campaign promoted across the e-commerce giant’s social media channels (which reaches more than nine million people).
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But most notably, Net-a-Porter is also launching a new complementary initiative called The Vanguard Education Fund (a partnership with the British Fashion Council or BFC), which sees the retailer engaging with various universities globally. The purpose? To recognise promising talents early on in their career – at an especially difficult time in the industry – and provide ground support.
Fine jewellery label Khiry, one of the young labels for this year’s Vanguard program
Through the means of a competition, four BA final-year university students will be chosen as the winners of the fund by a group of judges from Net-a-Porter and the BFC, with each winner receiving prize money and access to two mentors. The competition is open to final-year students from all BFC Colleges Council members, as well as Parsons School of Design, Politecnico di Milano, TAFE Australia and FEDISA Fashion School Cape Town.
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“Our goal is to ensure that the next generation of creative talent is given early support to enable their success before they embark on their professional journey – we see this as especially important given the challenges the pandemic has brought to the creative industry and, most notably, at a grass-roots level,” says Lea Cranfield, chief buying and merchandising officer at Net-a-Porter.
It’s early days for this new initiative and we really hope it takes off – beyond just coverage from the media, young designers and students need substantial support and infrastructure in order to build a sustainable career for the long term.
Might we suggest some names from Singapore and around the region for next year’s Vanguard program?
Below, a look at the designers in this year’s program:
