Representing the creative future

APOC Grants, a callout for young designers from marginalised communities

The cutting edge online marketplace launches a £1,000 grant scheme for 5 young creatives

The dilemma many young designers, artists, and creatives across the UK face today is the disparity between their ideas and their finances. It’s an age-old puzzle that stops some of the industry’s brightest future names from fully dedicating themselves to their work and upholds the notion that in order to reach the highest ranks of the creative industries you need to come from a wealthy or privileged background.

Jules Volleberg and Ying Suen, co-founders of APOC store; a curated online marketplace for a new generation of designers and artists decided to tackle these inequalities head-on. “APOC Store was created to give back power to creatives.” Says Ying, introducing their newest scheme to help young creatives.

“Over the past year and a half, when searching the internet for new talent, it was hard not to notice the disparity between which communities dominate specific industries.” APOC has a history of championing young talent, giving them a much-needed platform to sell and promote their work. “The art world is by far the most white cisgender and heterosexual from our experience. The practices that require more resources and funds are unfortunately less diverse.”

“We wanted to make something, in the hopes that we can make even a small difference in the current landscape we see now. APOC Grant hopes to further support our work by giving young creatives from marginalised communities support and an opportunity to break into the fashion and art industry.” The grant, launched this month will give five new designers and artists the chance to get: a £1000 grant, a six-month mentorship program with bi-weekly sessions with the APOC team, and a chance to sell their work on apoc-store.com.

The call for applicants, which closes on the 16th of April 2022, is open to creatives worldwide.

Find more details and apply here