YNAP and Prince's Foundation open Modern Artisan project applications

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 2, 2021

Yoox Net-A-Porter is continuing its cooperation with The Prince’s Foundation in the UK and has announced the opening of applications for the second edition of The Modern Artisan project.

It’s inviting fashion and textiles graduates from Britain  to submit applications for their place on a “once-in-a-lifetime” paid training programme by 30 June. 

The company said that four UK-based fashion and textiles graduates who are “passionate about innovative, responsible design and creating womenswear to the highest standard” will get the opportunity to join a team of four graduates from the Fashion Design Programmes of Italian design school Politecnico di Milano. They’ll all take part in a collaborative 10-month paid training programme from September.

The Prince’s Foundation and YNAP said they’ll “upskill and guide the eight trainee artisans through the process of bringing a responsible luxury collection to market on a global scale”. The capsule collection that results from this will debut on Net-A-Porter and Yoox for AW22 and profits from the sale of the collection will be donated to The Prince’s Foundation. The charity will then be able to further “develop and deliver training programmes that will help preserve traditional textile skills”.

YNAP also said that the the first edition of The Modern Artisan project saw all of the trainee artisans who took part across Italy and the UK securing employment in the industry or starting their own fashion and manufacturing businesses.

Among the UK artisans to graduate from the first edition of was Jillian Halfpenny, who’s about to launch her own luxury small-batch production business in Scotland. She said: “Being involved in the project was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which enabled me to put into practice all that I learnt at college and expand my skills in the full range of designing, manufacturing and bringing to market a luxury and sustainable clothing collection.”