THE FIRST CHALLENGE THE FABRIC AWARD FOR EMERGING FASHION DESIGNERS TO BE LAUNCHED AT LONDON FASHION WEEK.
Organized by the Swedish Fashion Council and initiated by Ekman & Co, and contributing partners, the first ever CTF (Challenge The Fabric) Award for emerging fashion talents celebrates creativity and explores the fabric viscose and its versatile application for the fashion industry. In responds to increasing fashion consumption, and consequently growing demands for fibers, the CTF opens the dialogue about viscose as alternative fabric, a biomaterial processed from wood. By engaging and supporting emerging design talent to explore the fabric’s aesthetic appeal and characteristics, it is the aim to create awareness about fabric choices amongst consumers and the industry.
‘This is the first international fashion award launched by the Swedish Fashion Council, connecting young creatives with the industry and across disciplines to create awareness, to push limits and to improve the fashion industry in the long run. We are very excited about the outstanding talent in this first edition.’ explains Jennie Rosén, CEO of the Swedish Fashion Council.
The CTF Award will be launched at London Fashion Week on September 13th with a fashion show presenting the creations of 6 young designers from around the globe, who have been selected as finalists for the prestigious award of €30.000.
A jury of fashion experts will award the CTF Award 2018 to one of the 6 finalists. Bringing together different expertise the jury includes, The Gentlewoman’s editor in chief Penny Martin, Diet Prada’s founders Tony Liu and Lindsey Schuyler, Re-Edition magazine’s editor in chief Jo Barker, Instagram magazine Th_Rlty_Shw founder Tiffany Godoy, and founder and designer of Vyner Articles Heikki Salonen, Swedish designer Ann-Sofie Back and acclaimed cloud-rap artist and designer known as Ecco2K, Zak Arogundade.
The 6 finalists present a selection of their BA collections in addition to newly designed viscose looks at the CTF show, representing some of the most prestigious fashion universities around the world. The finalists are: Harry Freegard of London’s Central St. Martins, Brandon Wen of Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Christine-Marie Valtonen of Helsinki’s Aalto University, Anna Bernal of Arnhem’s ArtEZ, Elena Velez of New York Parsons School and Paolo Carzana of London’s University of Westminster. A complementary exhibition presents the viscose looks of Zhenyuan Yang, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Yiyuan Sun, Donghua University as well as, Kajsa Willumsen, The Swedish School of Textiles.
The Swedish Fashion Council and Ekman & Co, are proudly launching the CTF Award with a fashion show event along a panel discussion hosted by SHOWstudio titled “The future of alternatives: how to sustain fashion” moderated by Rebecca Earley, Professor Sustainable Fashion Textile Design and co-founder of the Centre for Circular Design.
The panel discussion will be recorded live at the event and shared, online the following day for all to see on SHOWstudio’s homepage.
