Cotton Incorporated is pushing the needle—or fiber—forward through a new collaboration.
The not-for-profit has partnered with Arts Thread, a network for new creatives, on the “Cotton Forward 3D Fashion Design Challenge:” a competition pushing students to create innovative and sustainable cotton-based fashion designs emphasizing 3D technology incorporations.
Through the inaugural contest, Cotton hopes to encourage young designers to “explore cotton as a versatile and natural fabric” and inspire them to prioritize sustainable design practices.
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“The Cotton Forward 3D Fashion Design Challenge not only celebrates the creativity and talent of young designers but embraces a medium that is the future of the fashion industry with sustainable materials like cotton,” said Megan Peterson, director of marketing and industry programs for Cotton Incorporated. “Cotton is an integral part of fashion’s future, and we are thrilled to see how students will incorporate digital fabrics from the CottonWorks fabric library into their designs and push the boundaries of innovation.”
The competition is open to United States-based students and recent graduates, who are invited to submit cotton-centric digital creations with 3D design fabric files from Cotton’s Fabricast collection that exhibit a “strong understanding” of cotton’s qualities. Four judges—Digital Fashion Week’s Clare Tattersall, Ralph Lauren’s Malie Bingham, Parsons School of Design’s Soojin Kang and Cotton’s own Katherine Absher—will be looking for innovative use of cotton, design excellence, creativity and ability to scale to market.
Three winners will receive prize money in the amounts of $5,000, $3,500 and $1,5000, respectively, and the opportunity to have their designs displayed in the CottonWorks virtual showroom. Hopefuls have until May 17 to submit.
