The Swarovski Conscious Design Hub is the product of the brand's inaugural Conscious Design programme delivered in collaboration with Jewellery, Textiles and Materials programme at Central Saint Martins. It is intended to be a lasting, free resource for designers from across a range of disciplines and to champion the transformational power of education and collaboration.
Documenting the creative outcomes of the partnership, the Hub serves as an online platform which offers insight into sustainable design through case studies, lectures and other online resources.
Swarovski x Central Saint Martins - Conscious Design
What is conscious design?
Conscious design means adopting principles of circularity and reappraising waste as a resource. It means inspiring future generations of talented craftspeople and business leaders to transform those principles into practice.
Swarovski works with established and emerging designers and design schools to catalyse change. Through their upcycled cyrstals programme the company gives a new life to unused, unsold, imperfect, lightly used and/or retired (out of programme) crystals by donating them for use in other projects. Over six million crystals have been donated by the company since the inception of its Upcycling Programme in 2015. Swarovski's unrivalled network of high-profile collaborators across fashion, jewellery, architecture and design gives them the influence to put sustainability at the heart of the creative process.
For many years Swarovski has donated upcycled crystals to Central Saint Martins for use in student projects to support the next generation of designers in engaging in sustainable practice. Having previously partnered with BA Jewellery, in 2019 Swarovski extended its partnership to include the entire Jewellery, Textiles and Materials Programme at Central Saint Martins.
The conscious design toolkit
Find out more about conscious design and how you can use it.
Zoe Chutong Huang
BA Jewellery student Chutong discusses her project with artist and poet Wilson Oryema
Katie-May Boyd
MA Material Futures graduate Katie-May Boyd discusses her 'Foreign Garbage' project
Wilson Oryema
Artist and poet Wilson Oryema explains the importance of conscious design
Zoë Daley
BA Textiles student Zoë tells us about her project and approach to conscious design
Yasmin Everley
BA Jewellery student Yasmin talks about her project and approaches to conscious design
Conscious design panel discussion
Panel discussion with artist and poet Wilson Oryema, mining activist Dr Greg Valerio, Global VP for Corporate Sustainability and Social Responsibility at Swarovski Dax Lovegrove and MA Material Futures graduate Katie-May Boyd
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Image: swarovskiwaterschool.com
Swarovski Water School
Discover the way Swarovski supports the provision of clean water and water education to schools
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Photo: Bruce Basudde
Conscious design approaches
Discover how other students approached their work through conscious design
Further resources
Reading materials
- Conscious design reading list [pdf 60kb] compiled by academics from Jewellery, Textiles and Materials
- Read our Jewellery, Textiles and Materials Programme Manifesto [pdf 30kb]
Lectures
A series of lectures were delivered to our students by key academics and designers - you can view these below:
- Caitlin Hinshelwood, Joint Course Leader BA Textile Design
- Giles Last, Course Leader BA Jewellery Design
- Kieren Jones, Course Leader, MA Material Futures
- Katie-May Boyd (MA Material Futures graduate, Central Saint Martins)
- Panel Discussion
Dax Lovegrove (Global Vice President Corporate Sustainability & Social Responsibility, Swarovski)
Wilson Oryema (artist and poet)
Dr Greg Vallerio MBE (agrarian, artisan and mining activist)
Katie-May Boyd (MA Material Futures graduate)
Using conscious design
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Precious Fish, Sissel Gustavsen (BA Textiles) Photo: Sissel Gustavsen
Precious Fish
BA Textiles: Print winner Sissel Gustavsen - textile prints inspired by declining marine life populations
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Solar Forge, Sean Ross (MA Material Futures) Photo: Bruce Basudde
Solar Forge
MA Material Futures winner, Sean T. Ross - harnessing the power of the sun through crystals
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Creating Clarity, Imogen Burch (BA Jewellery) Photo: Mael Henaff
Creating Clarity
BA Jewellery winner, Imogen Burch - engraved crystals to be kept for a lifetime
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This Little Light of Mine, Hannah Livesey (BA Textiles) Photo: Hannah Livesey
This Little Light of Mine
BA Textiles: Weave winner, Hannah Livesey - naturally-dyed fabrics that enhance the natural beauty of light
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Future Brown, Ferenc Zepko (BA Textiles) Photo: Ferenc Zepko
Future Brown
BA Textiles: Knit runner up, Ferenc Zepko - democratising luxury for slow fashion
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You Are Not Alone, Kieu Vu (BA Textiles) Photo: Bruce Basudde
You Are Not Alone
BA Textiles: Weave runner up, Kieu Vu - fabrics that let cancer sufferers know they are not alone
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Construction Rebellion, Millicent Sanders (BA Textiles) Photo: Millicent Sanders
Construction Rebellion
BA Textiles: Knit winner, Millicent Sanders - weaving high visibility jackets into eye-catching fabrics
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Piezoelectric Pavement, Riina Jun (MA Material Futures) Photo: Bruce Basudde
Piezoelectric Pavement
MA Material Futures runner up, Rina Oun - light-up paving slabs powered by footsteps
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A bag design created by Christy Shum for her Cultural Cuisines project (BA Textiles) Photo: Christy Shum
Cultural Cuisines
BA Textiles: Print runner up, Christy Shum - reusable bags that reflect the importance of food in cultural heritage
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Evergreen, Kirsten Schultze (BA Jewellery). Photo: Elina Nasimova
Evergreen
BA Jewellery runner up - Kirsten Schultze - a necklace inspired by the enduring nature of the evergreen tree