Students to explore sustainable fashion in China

Students to explore sustainable fashion in China

Twelve Massey University students will travel to China later this year to collaborate with Chinese students in a sustainable fashion initiative.

The students have been awarded Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia for the four-week trip in November-December to the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art and Xi’an Polytechnic University. The New Zealand students from a variety of design disciplines will work with their Chinese peers on Space Between, Massey’s new social enterprise around designing, making and using locally produced fashion. They will also receive basic Chinese language instruction, visit garment factories, learn about Chinese culture and visit important historical sites.

College of Creative Arts Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Claire Robinson says the awards build on the connections made with Chinese First Lady Madame Peng Liyuan who visited the college at Wellington last year.

“The Prime Minister's Scholarships are a wonderful opportunity for our students. Following the visit of Madam Peng to the college, it is a further opportunity for us to develop deeper relationships with like-minded design institutes in China.”

Senior Lecturer in fashion design, Jennifer Whitty, visited Shanghai and Xi'an last year and says both institutions are strongly committed to innovation. “This is a deeply fascinating time for our students to be working in China on sustainable fashion.

“We are seeing a resurgence of interest in traditional crafts and techniques, and growing interest in moving up the value chain from high-volume mass consumer fashion to more sustainable practices. Our students have a genuine chance to see how design could effect change in the world's most powerful economy.”

The Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) is a scholarship programme established in 2013 to provide $9 million of funding over five years. The scholarship was created by the New Zealand government and is administered by Education New Zealand. Applications for the next round of funding close on September 30 2015.

The College of Creative Arts at Massey University is ranked fourth in Asia-Pacific by Red Dot, the international design awards agency. It is also the first art and design school outside North America to be awarded “substantial equivalency” by the US accreditation body NASAD – the most comprehensive international benchmark for art and design education in the world.

ENDS

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