Alumni news II
PHOTO CREDIT KEVIN GERMANIER
Kevin GERMANIER
Few are raising the profile of sustainable fashion as much as Redress Design Award 2014/15 First Prize winner Kévin Germanier. The Swiss student graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2017 before launching his eponymous brand the next year, a ritzy womenswear collection made from up-cycled materials including fabric, zips, thread, and Germanier’s signature beading. Media and retail interest followed in kind, with matchesfashion.com as the exclusive stockist and profiles in industry bibles including Vogue, WWD and Business of Fashion. Just one week before debuting a capsule collection crafted with up-cycled Swarovski crystals, Kévin was announced 2018 Swarovski & Vogue Talents New Generation Award winner. In May 2019, looks from his collections - including a shoe collaboration with Louboutin - were worn by Brazilian model Isabelle Boemeke and AirBnB co-founder Joe Gebbe on the MET Gala red carpet. In the same month, at Le Cigale, Paris, K-pop superstar Sunni chose three looks from Germanier’s collection for her first world tour.
PHOTO CREDIT PAT GUZIK
Pat Guzik
Pat Guzik was presented with the first Redress Design Award Alumni Prize of 2019, winning the chance to showcase her current collection to an international audience at Vancouver Fashion Week. Pat’s eponymous label continues to transform textile waste into a colourful mix of streetwear and high fashion. Collaboration is key for the Polish designer, who also won first prize in the 2015/16 cycle. A partnership with illustrator Mateusz Kolek resulted in a capsule collection and a percentage of sales are donated to Redress. More recently, Pat teamed up with visual artist Tomasz Armada to curate Blue Dogs, an exhibition in Poland’s Gdańsk which questioned current practices in the textile industry.
PHOTO CREDIT Kelvin Wan
Kelvin Wan
After winning the Redress Design Award 2012 Hong Kong Most Promising Student Award, as well as the 2015/16 Alumni Prize, Kelvin Wan has become the first-ever alumni to develop kidswear. His aim is to tackle the waste that is created as children grow, simultaneously increasing demand. Working with textile and yarn waste from factories, Wan prioritises woven knits for their ability to be comfortable and safe and to stretch to fit a child’s active life. In February 2019, Wan, who has a BA (Hons) in Fashion Design from Nottingham Trent University, collaborated with Hong Kong restaurant group, Maximal Concepts to create up-cycled denim lai see packets for Chinese New Year.
PHOTO CREDIT ClEmentine Sandner
ClEmentine Sandner
After participating in the Redress Design Award 2013, Clémentine Sandner moved to Japan where she now specialises in the reconstruction of antique silk kimonos, combining them with high performance fabrics to create beautiful accessories. Public workshops, where participants can learn basic sewing skills and create their own bag, are currently her focus. “These hands-on experiences are opportunities to reconsider rampant consumerism and waste,” says Clémentine. “Not only do participants leave the workshop with a unique new accessory, they also gain valuable insight into the full production process, so that they can continue creating into the future.”
PHOTO CREDIT Sung Yi Hsuan
Sung Yi Hsuan
Inspired by her participation in the Redress Design Award, Sung Yi Hsuan decided to continue her investigation into material choices, through the MFA Textiles programme at Parsons School of Design in New York. Earlier this year, following the Met Gala, the 2017 finalist contributed a design for Camp: Notes on Fashion, the Costume Institute’s Graduate Fashion Design Competition. Keen to create a debate around the value of materials, Yi Hsuan chose glittery polyester selvage yarns from Taiwanese textile mills and sequin fabric scraps from a home décor studio in Brooklyn to create a luxurious dress inspired by Tiffany lamps.
This article originally appeared in the Redress Design Award 2019 Magazine.