Funding the Future of Fashion
Saint Louis Fashion Fund Scholarships and Fashion Futures Give Missouri's Next Generation the Means—and Connections—to Succeed
By Grayling Holmes / photos by Kevin de Miranda
Every great fashion career begins somewhere.
Before there is a collection, a runway show, a coveted label, or a corner office at a major fashion house, there is a student with an idea, a sketchbook, talent, and a dream. Turning that dream into a career requires education, opportunity, mentorship—and often financial support.
The Saint Louis Fashion Fund is helping provide all four.
Through its Susan Sherman Fashion Scholarships and the 3rd Annual Fashion Futures Collegiate Kickoff, the organization is doing far more than celebrating young talent. It is making a direct investment in the next generation of Missouri fashion professionals and creating connections that could help keep that talent working, creating, and innovating in St. Louis and throughout the state.
This year, the Fashion Fund awarded $30,000 in Susan Sherman Fashion Scholarships to six Missouri students pursuing fashion and fashion-related studies. Each recipient receives $5,000 to help further their education.
This year, six students received $30,000 in Susan Sherman Fashion Scholarships.
And appropriately, the scholarships were formally announced during Fashion Futures, the Fashion Fund's annual collegiate outreach event held in partnership with two formidable names in the St. Louis fashion community: Caleres and Neiman Marcus.
In addition to global footwear company Caleres and Neiman Marcus, students, parents and teachers had an opportunity to meet and connect with other top fashion brands headquartered here in St. Louis including Artemas Quibble known for its luxury handcrafted leather belts and accessories as seen in GQ and Vogue and on top celebrities; AUDRA, a luxury women's brand of distinctive and sophisticated women’s clothing, accessories and bespoke designs;
Cynthia Richard an exclusive, high-style shoe company for women; Lusso, a fashion-first licensed sports brand that reimagines women’s fanwear clothing and accessories; Stars Design Group, a global clothing manufacturer and designer. These top top-tier fashion industry business executives provided one of the most important keys to success – connections. These connections are just the beginning to build relationships for our future fashion leaders and help empower them land their first internship, first job or a find their life-long career.
Together, the scholarships and Fashion Futures embody a simple but powerful idea:
If we want Missouri to have a future in fashion, we must invest in the people who will create it.
The Susan Sherman Fashion Scholarships
Named for Susan Sherman, co-founder of the Saint Louis Fashion Fund and a longtime champion of St. Louis fashion, the scholarships are earmarked for Missouri residents attending a Missouri college or university with an accredited fashion or fashion-related program.
The 2026 recipients represent emerging talent from across the state.
Constance Anthony of Florissant, Maria Lynn Clark of St. Charles, and Mia Rose Krieger of St. Louis County attend Lindenwood University. Mila Graf of Jackson attends Missouri State University; Ellyanna Corcoran Maggiore of Columbia attends the University of Missouri; and Svea Herstar Pierson of Kansas City attends the Kansas City Art Institute.
Each received a $5,000 scholarship, for a total investment of $30,000 in their fashion education.
For Sherman, however, the initiative is about more than selecting six winners. It is about identifying, encouraging, and remaining connected to an entire generation of young creatives.
Susan Sherman
"We received a number of impressive applications this year and we thank every single student who took the time to apply and share their story, passion and creativity with us," Sherman said. "We are encouraging all applicants whether they received a scholarship or not to stay in touch as we are excited to follow their paths."
That continued connection may prove every bit as valuable as the financial assistance.
A scholarship can help pay for an education. A relationship can help build a career.
Fashion Futures: Where Education Meets Opportunity
That is where Fashion Futures enters the picture.
Approximately 100 students, parents, fashion industry leaders, and professionals gathered at Neiman Marcus for the 3rd Annual Fashion Futures Collegiate Kickoff. The event creates an important bridge between students studying fashion and the professionals already working in it.
For young people contemplating careers in design and related fields, the opportunity to speak directly with industry professionals can help turn an abstract ambition into a tangible career path.
According to Saint Louis Fashion Fund Board Chair Emily Bardon, Fashion Futures gives students studying fashion and design the opportunity to meet top industry professionals who can offer guidance about internships and apprenticeships and help them shape career pathways "in their own backyard."
Kristin Johnson (l), Saint Louis Fashion Fund board member, chair of the Fund's scholarship committee, and Chief Operating Officer for Edward Jones stands next to Susan Chairman (r).
That final point is particularly significant.
For generations, aspiring fashion professionals have often believed that success requires leaving the Midwest for New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Milan, or another established fashion center.
The Saint Louis Fashion Fund is helping challenge that assumption.
By bringing together education, mentorship, corporate partnerships, and scholarship support, the organization is demonstrating to young people that St. Louis and Missouri can be places where fashion careers begin—and potentially flourish.
Industry Leaders Open the Door
The partnership with Caleres and Neiman Marcus also gives Fashion Futures an important connection to the business of fashion.
Dr. Amy Hunter, Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Talent Acquisition at Caleres, a St. Louis-based footwear company
Students aren't simply hearing about hypothetical career opportunities. They are meeting professionals who understand the industry and can provide insight into what employers seek, how careers develop, and where opportunities may exist.
"Neiman Marcus could not be prouder to partner with Saint Louis Fashion Fund and Caleres to host this educational program for aspiring fashion students and engage their interest in what our St. Louis fashion industry has in store for their future," said Dan Kramer, general manager of Neiman Marcus.
For Holly Campbell, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Caleres, preparing tomorrow's fashion professionals means nurturing qualities that extend beyond technical skills.
Holly Campbell, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Caleres
"What unites us are the values that drive us: Passion, Curiosity. Creativity. Caring. Accountability," Campbell said. "It's what we aspire to bring out of everyone at Caleres and encourage our future leaders like those attending Fashion Futures to use these values to drive their studies at college and beyond."
The setting itself reinforces the message.
Here are students pursuing fashion careers standing inside Neiman Marcus, interacting with fashion professionals and representatives of Caleres, a major St. Louis-based footwear company, while being recognized by an organization created to strengthen the region's fashion ecosystem.
For a young designer, merchandiser, marketer, or fashion entrepreneur, suddenly the distance between the classroom and a career can seem much shorter.
More Than $30,000
The headline number is impressive: $30,000 awarded to six deserving Missouri students.
But the larger investment being made by the Saint Louis Fashion Fund cannot be measured solely in dollars.
It can be measured in introductions.
Mentorship.
Internships.
Apprenticeships.
Professional advice.
Confidence.
And the realization among young creatives that someone believes their talent is worth investing in.
The Susan Sherman Fashion Scholarships help students continue their education. Fashion Futures helps them imagine what comes next.
Together, they form a continuum from education to opportunity to career.
And that is how an industry builds its future.
Joan Berkman
Today's scholarship recipient could become tomorrow's celebrated designer. A student making an industry connection at Fashion Futures could eventually launch a company, become a creative director, develop the next great retail concept, or return years from now as the mentor offering advice to another young Missourian.
There is no way to know today where these six scholarship recipients—or the many other students attending Fashion Futures—will ultimately make their mark.
That is precisely what makes the investment so exciting.
Fashion is, after all, an industry built on imagining what comes next.
Through the Susan Sherman Fashion Scholarships, the Saint Louis Fashion Fund, and Fashion Futures, St. Louis isn't simply waiting to see what the future of fashion looks like.
We're helping fund it.
