Vancouver non-profit launches unique scholarship campaign to inspire future fashionistas

Grade 12 McMath Secondary student Lexi Lawson has a passion for fashion.

"(I) love the idea of getting into sewing as a full-time job," said the 17-year-old. "At the very least, part-time being able to create my own costumes and potentially sell my own costumes to other people."

Lawson says she'd come into school early, work through lunch and stay late in order to see her designs come to life. And Wednesday, her hard work paid off.

Lawson received a brand new sewing machine courtesy of Our Social Fabric, a non-profit fabric shop located in East Vancouver that helps tackle the fashion industry's sustainability issues.

"We wanted to help these kids get these machines and kind of break that cost barrier to get more into the fibre arts and to encourage these young, up-and-coming designers," said MaryAn Webb, a volunteer with Our Social Fabric.

The 'Sew-fund' scholarship program pledges to give out 10 new sewing machines this school year.

In addition to inspiring the next generation, the scholarship aims to motivate its recipients to design and produce clothing in a sustainable manner.

Webb says the non-profit saved 34,000 pounds of textiles from ending up in the landfill in 2022 alone, and has diverted 93 tons of material from landfills since 2017.

Lawson's vision includes an eco-friendly style.

"I've always had a dream that in the future I would be able to create all my own clothes," said Lawson. "And it can be perfectly sustainable because it's all my own clothes and I'm not giving in to fast fashion."

Any students in the Lower Mainland interested in applying for the scholarship can learn more on Our Social Fabric's website.