LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 14: (L to R) Dilys Williams, Director of Centre for Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion, award winners Elise Comrie and Agraj Jain, and Beatrice Lazat, Human Resources Director at Kering,attend the 2016 Kering Talk at the London College of Fashion on November 14, 2016 in London, England. Pic Credit: Dave Benett
Last week we announced the winners of the Kering Award for Sustainable Fashion at the third annual Kering Talk, and they were awarded either a €10,000 prize for innovation or a three month paid internship prize for collaboration.
The winners for Brioni were…
Agraj Jain, awarded €10,000 for his proposal of peace silk, a method of silk manufacturing in which no silkworms are harmed or killed
‘The past few months were not a mere project but an entire journey for me. The deeper I delved into sustainability, I discovered how integral it is to my own life. I believe it is this this deep connection which shaped my entire journey and allowed me to give my best regardless of the outcome. From travelling to the supplier in India to searching for samples in Berwick street, from making headers for fabric samples to binding the booklet by myself, each part of the process was memorable and enriching.
Through my work I have tried my best to bring out my own personal connection with the concept. Today as my work is being recognised and my hard work acknowledged, I am truly thankful for this opportunity and privilege granted to me. Although this journey has ended here, I see an entire world of possibilities ahead of me and this award has given me tremendous encouragement and inspired me to create some more magic in this world of sustainable fashion!’
Elise Comrie, awarded a three month internship at Brioni for her project ‘Tailored Tobacco,’ which proposed tobacco as a natural dye alternative
First of all I’d like to thank the MA Fashion Futures programme and the Centre for Sustainable Fashion who gave me this incredible opportunity and last night was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate this exciting honour with friends, family and colleagues.
Going forwards I’m thrilled to start preparing for my internship with Brioni, excited to work alongside the design team in the center of Rome, exploring the heart of la dolce vita.
And the winners for Stella McCartney were…
Irene-Marie Seelig, awarded €10,000 for her development of Amadou mushroom skin as a vegetarian leather alternative
The Kering Award curriculum and mentorship programme, for me, was an invaluable experience as sustainability is deeply rooted in my professional and personal life and provided a platform where I could explore my ideas in developing a circular material to be an alternative for non-leathers and leathers.
A highlight for me was the opportunity to work with and receive guidance and feedback from Claire Bergkamp, Head of Sustainability and Ethical Trade at Stella McCartney. Claire’s wealth of knowledge and pure excitement for ethical and sustainable fashion gave me the confidence to explore uncharted territories to further develop the vegetarian mushroom leather. Another exciting aspect of my project was being able to work in a field, material innovation, I do not often have the opportunity to work in as my professional background is in marketing and sustainable fashion business development. This allowed me to apply my business skillset to material innovation and in the process gain new skills through working with a scope of talented material scientists, researchers, PHD footwear designer Liz Ciokajlo and team of mycologists.
I am pleased to continue this project through the Kering Award prize by proceeding with the advancements I’ve made to the material’s durability and aesthetics and its circular supply chain through collaborations with material scientists and mycologists.
Iciar Bravo Tomboly, awarded a three month internship at Stella McCartney for her social ecologies project
‘The Kering Award was like doing a Master’s degree in sustainability. I am truly grateful to Kering, the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, UAL and Stella MCartney for this opportunity. As Stella said during the Kering talk, “we need to invest love into our supply chain”, as a finalist, I invested a lot of love into my project and I am happy to see that it will be part of Stella’s World. My ambition is to further develop my concept of “social ecology and human wellbeing” into tangible actions within the supply chain of the company.’
Ana Pasalic, awarded a three month internship at Stella McCartney for her research into new material development and innovative dying techniques
‘For me the Kering Award provided me with the huge opportunity to develop skills and interests I wasn’t aware of before in the field of future materials. I look forward to further explore this area during my internship at the sustainability department of Stella McCartney, which gives me an insight on how to operate with these new materials.’
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Please note this is an archive blog.