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.

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.

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)