Luxury footwear brand Charlotte Olympia wants to draw new talent to the footwear industry. The company, founded by Creative Director Charlotte Olympia Dellal, is funding a new scholarship program at Cordwainers at the London College of Fashion, the first dedicated footwear scholarship initiative to be offered by the brand.
Starting from the 2015-2016 academic year, Charolotte Olympia will fund one student to complete the final three years of the four year BA Cordwainers Footwear: Product Design and Innovation Course. The company will also offer the winning student a paid internship during the second year of the scholarship.
The Course Director will select the strongest first year students to present their portfolios to a panel of leading fashion industry judges. The 2015 panel includes Charlotte Olympia Dellal, British Fashion Council Ambassador for Emerging Talent Sarah Mower, Business of Fashion Founder Imran Amed and Helen David, Harrods fashion director of womenswear, women’s shoes, fine jewelry, accessories and childrenswear.
Olympia Dellal completed the BA footwear design course at Cordwainers. “I am very happy to be giving something back to a school which provided me with the skills and confidence to create by own luxury brand and build a career in an industry I love,” the designer said in a statement.
The BA Cordwainers Footwear: Product Design and Innovation Course encourages graduates to make an innovative contribution to footwear product development in the fashion industry. Students are taught how to develop ideas into marketable footwear collections.