Students Named Fendi Vanguard Winners

Wednesday, Jul 21, 2021
Juilliard Journal
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Four students pose outside wearing Fendi attire
2021 FENDI Vanguards: Morgan Scott, Cyrie Topete, Adam Phan, and William Leathers (Photos: Erin Baiano)

Fendi awards innovators

By Susan Jackson

As the 2020-21 academic year drew to a close, four Juilliard students received a cryptic invitation to a Zoom meeting where they would get good news. The news, it turned out, was that they were to be the inaugural recipients of the Fendi Vanguard Awards, for students “poised to be innovators in their chosen discipline and across the performing arts.”

A trumpet player wearing a fire engine red Bermuda shorts suit posing outside with his horn
William Leathers

The awards are part of a partnership that launched this past winter, when jazz students took part in a video—part of Fendi’s Anima Mundi series—that featured them playing a score the company commissioned from master’s student Aaron Matson. At the time, the fashion house also made a significant contribution to Juilliard’s scholarship fund. The awards provide each of the four winners with a cash award; media, performance, and mentorship access; and the opportunity to work with Fendi stylists to be dressed for major professional and academic engagements

Before leaving for the summer, the Vanguard Award winners—rising fourth-years Cyrie Topete (dance), Morgan Scott (drama), William Leathers (trumpet), and incoming harp master’s student Adam Phan (BM ’20)—took part in a photo shoot (in which each student was offered the opportunity to wear Fendi clothes and choose their own looks from its catalog) and chatted about the award with Journal editor Susan Jackson.

Tell us about hearing you’d received the award.
Cyrie:
I was honestly speechless, but it was also exciting. I think this opportunity is going to be life-changing.
Adam: I was like, wait, Fendi?
William: There was a lot of joy hearing about it.
Morgan: I was in my apartment chilling when I found out, and I was shocked because it came out of nowhere. I was having a hard week—it was so close to that end-of-year slump—but hearing the news was such an energy boost.

A harp player wearing Fendi attire poses with his harp outside
Adam Phan

You all were selected because you’re thought of as being in the vanguard—
Cyrie:
With the amount of talented people who are in this building and so deserving and so passionate about what we do—that the four of us could represent this is such an honor.
Adam: I’ve been trying to crack the code for why I was picked. To be someone who strives for the future and pushes boundaries—I had no idea I could do that with harp and combine it with fashion. Trying to put your own voice in [your future], with the help of Fendi, is going to be very exciting.
Morgan: When you’re in a training program, especially Juilliard, you’re just trying to do your work and you don’t always think much about life outside school. This award has cracked something open in terms of thinking about my art post-Juilliard.
Cyrie: It’s easy to be so focused-in—we’re very passionate about what we do, but approaching our senior year, it can be scary. Will we be ready for real life? This opportunity really expands what collaboration means and what our lives as artists can be; it doesn’t have to be a prescribed path. This is going to be a huge help and support for senior year.

An actor dressed in Fendi poses outside reading from the play 'The Piano Lesson' by August Wilson
Morgan Scott

Where do you see the award taking you moving forward?
Morgan: This award opens things up. We talk about the artist as citizen all the time. What can I do so that the art is bigger than myself, and how do I want to get my voice across?
Adam: I feel like fashion is like that too. How can it relate a voice to the clothing and the styling? I would have never thought that music and fashion go with each other, but they’re both aiming for something more than the art and the creativity themselves—it’s also how they relate to everything around us. It’s so important to focus on that with everything this year has thrown at everyone. To be able to have this opportunity this year where we couldn’t do [as much] arts-wise because of the pandemic—I’m excited to see how we can use both lanes.
What does the concept of being in the vanguard mean to you?
William:
Everyone who was chosen for this is in one way or another destined for greatness, [but] I think it’s also about striving for excellence rather than perfection. 

How does the award help with that?
William:
A lot of what the award has done and what we’ve done today [in coming up with ideas for the photo shoot] has been allowing us to be ourselves so we can be excellent.
Adam: During the fitting process, they told us to choose the outfit that makes you feel absolutely fabulous. I’d never really thought about how one clothing item can make you feel like the next best thing. It’s exciting to have that opportunity and to have another level of help through this award. I’m also excited to get to meet with the branding [team at Fendi]—to get to talk to people who are also striving for excellence in a completely different field than ours and hear about their opportunities and experiences.
Cyrie: I loved how the fitting process was about how you feel versus how you look. As artists, we get caught up with aesthetic. To have this atmosphere that’s curated around what feels best so we can achieve excellence—it’s so refreshing.
Adam: It’s everything.
Morgan: Thinking about people who I admire and would consider “vanguard”—it’s exactly what we’re talking about. They’re just themselves and they express it, and through that they’re excellent. This experience has liberated me to find my true self and express that as well.

A dancer wearing Fendi attire poses outside on one leg
Cyrie Topete

[The students talked about Fendi, both what it represents as a brand and how what they chose for the shoot pushed their boundaries. At one point, Morgan posed with a collected works of Shakespeare and an August Wilson script.]
Morgan:
In years past, I would never have expected Juilliard to partner with a fashion brand, but I feel like the school is moving in this amazing direction where we are pushing boundaries. It’s more accepted and encouraged to ask, “What are the classics? Whose tradition is this?” It was really intentional that I was holding Shakespeare and also August Wilson while wearing a Fendi dress.
Adam: I remember looking at the look book and thinking, I can’t wear any of that. But now, I. Am. Ready. I feel like this has given us all permission to change it up a little bit, and with the help of an amazing fashion brand.
William: I agree. I would wear this to my senior recital.
Cyrie: Hearing how [Fendi has an ethos of] staying true to who you are—I think it’s our job to spread that into our communities. If we can create some ease and compassion and support for one another in terms of celebrating our individuality, that’s a great way to collaborate.