Fashion School Student Grants
In 2015, the Trust agreed to fund a pilot project whereby it provided grants to selected Fashion Design Students.
Initially, 25 grants were provided for 2016, allocated to RMIT, Whitehouse Design, UTS, QUT, TAFE SA and Curtin University.
In 2020, the program was extended to include Box Hill Institute, Holmes Glen Institute, TAFE NSW and LCI Melbourne. This increased the number of grants to 30.
The grants are allocated to the participants as follows:
| Institute | Program | Grants | $ |
| Curtin | Bachelor of Arts (Fashion) | 2 | $3000 |
| RMIT | Bachelor of Fashion (Design) | 3 | $4500 |
| Bachelor of Textile (Design) | 1 | $1500 | |
| Bachelor of Fashion (Design) (Honours) | 3 | $6000 | |
| Bachelor of Textile (Design) (Honours) | 1 | $2000 | |
| TAFE SA | Bachelor of Fashion Design | 3 | $4500 |
| QUT | Bachelor of Design (Hons) | 2 | $4000 |
| UTS | BA Hons Fashion and Textile Design | 4 | $8000 |
| Whitehouse Institute of Design | Bachelor of Design | 6 | $9000 |
| Box Hill Institute | Bachelor of Fashion | 1 | $1500 |
| Holmes Glen Institute | Bachelor of Fashion Design | 1 | $1500 |
| TAFE NSW | Bachelor of Fashion Design | 2 | $1500 |
| LCI Melbourne | Bachelor of Fashion & Costume Design | 1 | $1500 |
Fashion School Student Grants Policies and Procedures
- AWET will support a fixed number of grants for Fashion Design Institute students to a maximum cost of $50,000 per annum.
- The grants will be available to final year students from 3 and/or 4-year Degrees, or equivalent.
- The quantum will be fixed at $1,500 for a final year student in a 3-year degree (or equivalent) and $2,000 for a final year student in a 4-year degree (or equivalent).
- The scholarships are intended to assist successful candidates in sourcing and purchasing wool fabric for inclusion in their final year looks/outfits/ranges.
- Each grant is contingent on having 80% wool content in the base fabric.
- AWET will decide how many grants are to be available for each Institute. AWET will not be involved in administration.
- Each Institute will be responsible for advertising the grants and selecting candidates, based on the following criteria:
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- academic achievement or other related performance measures used by the institute;
- commitment to producing a final year range incorporating the minimum percentage of wool required, with other fibres able to be used in conjunction with the wool component, within garments and/or in separate garments; and
- the names and contact details being sent to AWET, as soon as possible after selection of successful candidates.
- Contingent with the provision of these details, each institute will provide an invoice to AWET for the total amount allocated.
- AWET will pay the funds to each Institute for distribution to their candidates.
- Each institution will arrange for AWET to receive the recipients’ email addresses once the grants have been allocated.
- Each Institute will arrange for AWET to receive a digitised version of their students’ designs/story boards, together with a description of the selected fabrics, and photographs of the looks/outfits.
Wool Lab
The Wool Lab is a kit produced by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) containing samples of new ranges of fabrics and designs. These kits are available to industry designers to enable them to become aware of the most recent developments. The kits are renewed at regular intervals.
In 2020, AWI agreed to distribute redundant kits to the Fashion Schools participating in AWET’s Student Grants program. This will negate the need to update the swatches initially assembled by RMIT and AWI using funding provided by AWET.
In February 2021, AWI created an on-line digital version of the Wool Lab.
You can link to Wool Lab Digital here.
AWI has also created Wool Lab Vision. These are seasonal books designed to encapsulate trends and lifestyle inspirations that can be tangibly translated into new and exciting wool products.
Fabric Swatches
For some years the AWET Trustees have held annual meetings with representatives of a number of Fashion Schools from all over Australia.
The purpose of these meetings is to develop programs whereby the Trust could assist the students develop a better understanding of the characteristics and advantages of wool.
One of the first projects was the development of a set of swatches of wool fabrics for distribution to the Fashion Schools. The selection, assembling and distribution of these swatches was managed by RMIT with assistance from AWI and funded by the Trust.
The Trust has discontinued funds for the addition of new samples to these swatches because the fashion schools are being provided with redundant versions of the Wool Lab instead.
Voyage Program
Prior to the COVID pandemic AWET and AWI had been considering sponsoring a joint China Extension Program with AWI, leveraging upon the Trust’s Fashion Students Grants program, whereby 3 recipients of its grants will be offered the opportunity to:
- Participate at a student graduate collection industry event in Beijing;
- Visit mills/manufacturers in China;
- Meet and greet with an established Chinese designer/brand; and
- Participate in a National Museum student graduate collections display.
However, due to the travel and other restrictions imposed by governments to manage the COVID-19 pandemic this project was deferred.
Instead, a modified program, the Voyage Program, restricted within Australia, was launched in 2020.
Students who wished to participate were required to submit:
- Look book, sketches, and folio of the student’s collection.
- Evidence of completion of the online Wool Appreciation Course.
- 1,000-word statement about:
- theme/concept of their final collection.
- their career aspirations.
- their journey using wool; and
- what an opportunity like this would mean to them.
The students’ submissions were assessed by AWI and AWET and 3 selected to participate in the program.
AWI organised and funded a tour based in Melbourne involving:
- Farm tour
- Mill tour
- Meetings with personnel involved in fashion
- AWTA Ltd Tour
- Presentation to AWET Trustees
- Interview with the Fashion Journal
Fortunately, a window of opportunity between lockdowns enabled the tour to be completed.
Continuing disruption due to the COVID pandemic resulted in the 2021 program being suspended. However, this program may be resumed in the future.