Announcing HB Commencement

Ongoing COVID-19 shutdowns have thrown the futures of many fashion students into question. Among other challenges, art colleges were forced to call-off degree showcases, meaning the class of 2020 graduated without a chance to celebrate their final collections. These cancellations have compounded the barriers to entry for emerging designers — especially those outside of fashion’s homogenous norm — who often rely on graduate shows as the first big break.

HYPEBEAST, together with Instagram, wants to give these students a new platform to present their work with #HBCOMMENCEMENT. We hope to take this opportunity to celebrate students’ success in university and mark the beginning of bright futures in fashion, highlighting students from BA and MA Fashion programs across the United States.

Following a showcase of student work via our Instagram Reels platform, HYPEBEAST will announce the five finalists. These students will be profiled on HYPEBEAST.com and participate in a mentorship program with HYPEBEAST creative stakeholders across creative direction, merchandising, brand partnerships and editorial. This session will mark the cornerstone of the mentorship phase: the expert-guided development of HYPE product.

All five finalists’ designs will be sold via Instagram and HBX as a part of the exclusive HB Commencement Capsule Collection. Sale profits from each T-shirt will be awarded to the respective designer to fund their future endeavors in fashion.

Eligible students can read the instructions below to apply and qualify to be among the five finalists chosen.

How to Apply

For your chance to be among those selected:
(1) Submit an application through the form below.
(2) Create and post one or more videos of your final thesis collection to Instagram Reels, tag @hypebeast and hashtag #HBCOMMENCEMENT. Finalists will be contacted via email in the days following selection.

The submission deadline is January 31. Good luck!

Requirements

Must be a 2020 graduate from a BA or MA Fashion program at an accredited American university.