AceShowbiz - Solange Knowles has teamed up with officials at the New School's Parsons School of Design to launch a virtual festival designed to celebrate the work of Class of 2020 students.

The COVID-19 pandemic altered the way students were able to display their end-of-year projects to the public, and now Solange's Here and Now initiative hopes to give young designers the opportunity to "share their creative visions on an international stage while they develop connections with a guild of industry leaders in fashion, art, and culture".

The festival will take place from June to August, with programming that includes various mentorship opportunities, online discussions/lectures, special performances, film screenings, and design workshops.

A statement from a spokesperson for Solange's creative agency, Saint Heron, says, "The Saint Heron team is honored to partner with The School of Fashion to celebrate and uplift the dedicated work of the graduating class of 2020 by presenting Here and Now.

"We look forward to working with the students over the coming weeks and helping bring attention to their hard work and unique perspective. As the world confronts the challenges of our current global crisis, fashion and design communities must embrace new ways to pause, evolve, and adapt. These challenges open up opportunities to expand growth in our creativity and innovation - two expressions at the core of Saint Heron as well as Parsons' students."