Berlin, June 5, 2024: Together with the Istituto Marangoni, the Fashion Council Germany announces the winners of the FCG FUTURE MINDS SCHOLARSHIP by Istituto Marangoni. The funding competition, announced by the educational platform re.FASHION ACADEMY, was realized in its first edition in collaboration with the Istituto Marangoni and expands the Fashion Council Germany's existing support for young design and business talents. The winners of the two scholarships are Antonia Pfeifer from Berlin for the Master Fashion Business & Entrepreneurship in Milan and Nekane Santos for the Master Fashion & Luxury Brand Management in London.

In addition to the two master's scholarships worth 30,000 euros each, the winners will each receive a re.FASHION ACADEMY voucher worth 500 euros. The scholarships offer the winners the opportunity to concentrate fully on their training and further education. During their studies at the internationally renowned ISTITUTO MARANGONI university, they will deepen their knowledge both theoretically and practically, laying an important foundation for their future careers in the fashion industry.

Antonia Pfeifer emphasizes: "After my successful fashion studies in Berlin, this is an important step to improve my skills and career opportunities. I aspire to start my own company and realize my visions for the future. My goal is to locate production in Germany, combined with sustainable sourcing of raw materials in order to produce my own fabrics locally or regionally."

"I am truly honored to have been selected as a scholarship holder and I have resolved to make the most of this unique opportunity in London. After several years of standing behind my upcycling fashion brand Trashy Treasure, I feel that studying the Masters in Fashion & Luxury Brand Management is exactly what my brand is still missing," emphasizes Nekane Santos.

The two winners convinced the expert jury above all with their future-oriented thinking and their innovative approaches. The jury in the first edition was made up of the following industry experts: For Milan: Diana Marian Murek (Director of Education, Istituto Marangoni Milano), Manuela Kampp-Wirtz (Co-CEO, BurdaVerlag), Nadja Swarovski (President, Fashion Council Germany), Scott Lipinski (CEO, Fashion Council Germany) and William Fan (Fashion Designer). For London: Christiane Arp (Chairman of the Board, Fashion Council Germany), Janina Lin Otto (entrepreneur and founder), Kerstin Weng (Head of Editorial Content, Vogue Germany), Noorin Khamisani (Programme Leader for Postgraduate Fashion) and Kirsty Keoghan (General Manager Global Fashion, eBay).

Fashion Council Germany member Waridi Schrobsdorff acted as co-initiator of the project.