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Local fashion designer Keisha Edwards is first Guyanese creative to be awarded Chevening Scholarship
Waterfalls Magazine – It is not every day that you hear a Guyanese in the creative industry being awarded a Chevening Scholarship to pursue higher learning for the work that they do. However, Guyanese fashion designer Keisha Edwards has chosen the unique path of doing so.
Guyanese fashion designer, Keisha Edwards (Credit: Keesha Edwards’s Facebook page)
Edwards is among a special group of Guyanese to be selected for the 2023 scholarship programme. “I am the first fashion designer/creative in Guyana to be awarded a Chevening Scholarship,” an obviously elated Edwards announced in a post on her Facebook page. The beloved local designer and Shasha brand owner urged others in the creative industry to follow suit.
“I stand on the shoulders of men and women who paved the way with their creativity that inspired me. Now I get to inspire others, I am the first but never will I be the last, fashion designers, filmmakers, artists, chefs, photographers, dancers, storytellers, creatives ‘You Are Chevening Material!” she declared.
Edwards noted that growing up in Guyana, being a fashion designer was not the ideal career choice. She explained that “People frowned upon this career path and still do. Not understanding that creating garments is not only about comfort, trends but it is a way of sharing our culture and retelling our stories.”
Her story, she said is that which she carries within.
“My great-grandmother and my grandmother were both skilled at sewing. My grandfather a tailor who did not want his sons to be tailors and my mother burnt the midnight oil sewing our uniforms for school so that I could gain this opportunity…My current existence is the dream realized for the people who came before me,” Edwards said adding that she first seamstress in her family to become a fashion designer and acquire a fashion degree.
Now that the Chevening Scholarship awardee is expected to travel to London to pursue her MA in Fashion Business Management at the prestigious University of Westminster.
“As I leave my home and close my business for a year, I am gaining an amazing opportunity to pursue my MA in Fashion Business Management …in London, my favourite Fashion Capital in the World!”
Edwards noted that she is indeed honoured to be awarded this illustrious Scholarship. “As a creative, I feel seen, there is a lot of work to be done with regard to developing the Fashion Industry in Guyana and this scholarship will equip me with the tools to be more impactful. I am extremely grateful and excited to begin this new journey. To God always the Glory and to my family and friends, ‘thank you’ for always believing in me and my dreams,’ she said.
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