SUPIMA DESIGN LAB 2024 presents the 7th edition

SUPIMA DESIGN LAB 2024 presents the 7th edition. Supima presents the 7th Supima Design Lab, an annual fashion exhibition that celebrates talent from around the world across all levels of expertise with one common trait: endless imagination. Taking place at the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence in Paris, France, the Supima Design Lab includes the finalists of the International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories – Hyères, the Supima Design Competition, and Leading International Designers.

Their exclusive creations showcase of SUPIMA DESIGN LAB 2024 the 7th edition the endless creative possibilities rooted in Supima’s commitment to sustainable innovation and superior quality.

LEADING INTERNATIONAL DESIGNERS OF SUPIMA DESIGN LAB 2024 THE 7TH EDITION

Stemming from a commitment to design, sustainable innovation and superior quality, Supima chose this carefully selected group of designers because of the belief that these exciting and talked about designers represent the future of fashion in their exemplary practices, approach and design. The silhouettes they created exclusively for the Supima Design Lab showcase the endless possibilities of fabrics made with Supima cotton.

Bianca Saunders

Recipient of the career-defining ANDAM Award in 2021, London-based Bianca Saunders’ eponymous menswear brand explores modern masculinity with garments designed to give an individual experience to each wearer, flavored subtly by her British Jamaican heritage. Her collections are shown twice a year on Paris’ menswear schedule.

Nominated as Independent Designer of the Year for the Fashion awards Bianca’s collaborations have included Gucci, Wrangler, Texas-based heritage brand Farah. She has also taken part in a two-season design project with Ecco Leather that allowed her to launch the furniture and accessory design side of the brand. Included for two consecutive years in the Hypebeast 100, she was invited to design for and attend the prestigious Met Gala, alongside Usher in May 2023.

Charles de Vilmorin

A graduate of the École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, now part of the Institut Français de la Mode, Charles de Vilmorin launched his eponymous label on Instagram during France’s Covid-19 lockdown. Its abstract mix of techniques that resulted in striking designs caught the attention of the industry and in 2021, he was nominated for both the LVMH Prize for Young Designer and ANDAM Prize.

After a remarkable debut at Paris Couture Week, he was named creative director of Rochas, focusing on women’s ready-to-wear, a post he held for two years. He has since returned to the couture runway under his own name, has launched his own ready-to-wear and sat as fashion jury president for the 2023 Hyères festival.

CFCL by founder and creative director Yusuke Takahashi

Born in Tokyo, Yusuke Takahashi dreamed of being an architect like his grandfather but eventually decided to straddle the worlds of fashion, architecture, and interior design. After studying in London and at Bunka Fashion Graduate University, where he discovered the possibilities of computer programming-aided knitwear, he joined the Miyake Design Studio in 2010. Appointed as the designer for the brand’s menswear line a decade later, Takahashi integrated traditional Japanese materials and techniques into his work. His travels led to a reevaluation of fashion’s purpose and a focus on societal impact, a shift further fueled by the birth of his daughter and growing global sustainability awareness.

Takahashi established CFCL has the philosophy that comprises three elements; sophistication, consciousness, and easy care with computer programming-aided knitting. CFCL gained recognition, becoming the first Japanese B Corporation apparel brand, and explored new knitwear expressions. His vision extends to the launch of a CFCL factory and knitting laboratory in Tokyo, fostering collaboration with traditional craftsmanship and materials, and innovating with Japanese chemical fibers for a new era.

Lukhanyo Mdingi

Lukhanyo Mdingi’s eponymous label is an ever-evolving emergence of consideration, community and timeless design. Since 2015, it is a testimony and dialogue occurring on African soil with the intention of radiating outward across the planet. The Cape Town-based brand is built around the symbiotic relationships it has formed with artisans on the continent such as the expert weavers from PHILANI in Khayelitsha, Cape Town – to Textile Artisans at CABES GIE in Burkina Faso, believing that beginning with human beings is where the essence is held for creating meaningful and intelligent design.

The Lukhanyo Mdingi has received a number of distinction, including the 2021 Karl Lagerfeld Prize at the LVMH Prize, a finalist of the 2022 ANDAM Prize, GQ Designer of the Year 2023 and honorary recipient winner of the AMIRI Prize 2023. Its designs have been exhibited at Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and the Brooklyn Museum, New York. Lukhanyo Mdingi currently sits on the board of the annual Advisory Committee for the Design Academy of Fashion – Cape Town.

Torishéju

Born in Northwest London, designer Torishéju Dumi works to broaden existing notions of Black artistry through the womenswear and menswear of her eponymous label. A Central Saint Martins graduate and alumna of Lee Alexander McQueen’s Sarabande Foundation who cut her teeth at Celine under Phoebe Philo, Ann Demeulemeester, Giles Deacon and Sibling London, Dumi’s first exposure to fashion was her mother’s taste in 19th century design and art, well represented in her family home. Religion, tradition, and spirituality are constant themes in her work, influenced by her Nigerian-Brazilian, Catholic upbringing.

Drawing on the folklore and tradition of her heritage, Dumi’s work nonetheless communicates a deeply personal vision. Her silhouettes trade familiar cultural signifiers for abstract, free-associative forms – using the surreal and the subconscious to magnify identity. Torishéju is an obsessive study of shape, form and fabric.

Igor Dieryck

Born in southern Belgium to a Flemish father and Walloon mother, Igor Dieryck is a fashion masters graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and winner of the 2023 at the Hyères festival. After experiences at independent label Meryll Rogge and Acne Studios, he has joined Hermès as junior menswear designer.

His creations embody a tension between extremely meticulous craftsmanship and the banality of an everyday object, borrowed from the surrealism of the designers who have marked the history of Belgian fashion. This year, he released a collaboration with both Chanel’s Metier d’Arts’ Ateliers and Galeries Lafayette. His signature shoes are sold at Dover Street Market Paris.

Victor Weinsanto

A ballet dancer trained at the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart, Victor Weinsanto realized his calling was in fashion. Paris’ Atelier Chardon Savard School led him to discover “the joy of having fun with clothes,” which he continued to explore at Y/project, Maxime Simoens and Chloé. His most formative experience in the fashion industry is without a doubt the two years he spent working with Jean Paul Gaultier, where he learned about savoir-faire, craftsmanship and freedom in his creative process. Weinsanto is committed to a fashion industry that is sustainable.

Vincent Pressiat

With his eponymous no-gender brand, Vincent Garnier Pressiat created a world where all inhibitions fall away, where light triumphs over the shadowy spectre of society. Chic, provocative with Parisian elegance, his brand celebrates joy, self-confidence, melancholy and combines craftsmanship, architecture and art with the world of night life. A graduate of IFM who cut his teeth at John Galliano, Maison Margiela, Saint Laurent and Balmain, Pressiat has attracted major attention since launching his brand in 2021, in the media, among celebrities like Alton Mason and Halsey, and even having his creations featured in the third season of Netflix’s hit show “Emily in Paris.”

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF FASHION, PHOTOGRAPHY AND ACCESSORIES HYÈRES

Since its creation in 1986 by Jean-Pierre Blanc, the International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories – Hyères has been promoting and supporting young international fashion and accessory designers and photographers. The 39th edition of the festival recently took place October 11 – 13, 2024 at the Villa Noailles. The Supima Design Lab is proud to present looks made by a select group of finalists from Hyères’s fashion finalists.

Fabian Kis-Juhasz

Budapest-born Fabian Kis-Juhasz is a 2017 graduate of London’s Royal College of Art. Since graduation, his work dealing with alternative ideas of femininity has shown at London Fashion Week as one the British Fashion Council’s “DiscoveryLAB” talents, at Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo and at Central European Fashion Week. He counts Chloe Sevigny and Christina Aguilera among his clients and has collaborated with costume designer Holly Waddington on the movie “Poor Things” which has won the Oscar for best costume design.

Gaëlle Lang Halloo

French designer Gaëlle Lang Halloo is challenging streetwear fashion norms from Berlin, where she lives. After graduating from the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués in Roubaix, she built a diverse career in ready-to-wear and sportswear in France and Germany, notably at Puma. In 2023, she took on a leading design role at Mikuta, a Berlin-based label, while launching her own brand. As a woman in this industry, she feels a strong need to speak up and bring forth a different narrative, and her two decades in high fashion and sportswear allow her to create designs that bridge luxury and mediocrity.

Julie Mouly-Pommerol

Paris-based Julie Mouly-Pommerol based-designer hails from Clermont-Ferrand and is a graduate of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, now integrated in the Institut Français de la Mode. After cutting her teeth at Barbara Bui, Jean Paul Gaultier and Saint Laurent, she decided to strike out on her own. Nature is a fundamental inspiration for the designer, who establishes a dialogue between humanity and the plant world through creations where she questions weather it is the origin or the extension of clothing.

Lilian Navarro

Born on the French Riviera in Nice, Lilian Navarro studied in Belgium, most recently completing a master’s degree at La Cambre Mode(s) in Brussels. His use of color and exploration of cuts have drawn attention to his work in which he explores the idea of beauty not being the starting point but the result of a conceptual exploration of principles and the intelligence of the garment. With an eye for contemporary art and a love for playing on conceptual boundaries, the picturesque inspires Navarro, while his palette draws from his native region. Throughout, he likes to challenge himself as he explores all kinds of techniques and stories.

Logan Monroe Goff

Resilience and creativity are the bedrock of the journey of Logan Monroe Goff, a Texan navtive now based in Paris. Visual learning is his superpower, while adaptation and innovation guided his educational journal, which shaped his unique design style. Having honed his skills and craftsmanship at Parsons the New School in New York, his ability to manipulate fabrics and textiles to align with his creative vision has become a defining aspect of his work.

Logan’s transition from a young Texan with a passion for fashion to a fashion designer reflects his unwavering commitment to storytelling through design, a journey been marked by resilience, adaptability, and a relentless pursuit of creative excellence.

Kenshiro Suzuki

As a student in product design at Tama Art University in Tokyo, Kenshiro Suzuki’s curiosity for materials led him to focus on hands-on experiment with them and processes to push the perimeter of designing physical objects.

After a year working as an assistant of Hikaru Matsumura, former Issey Miyake designer and inventor of Bao Bao franchise, he worked for the designer’s 52 BY HIKARUMATSUMURA. This experience at the intersection between fashion and product design shaped his own brand, and eventually led him to enroll at HEAD Geneva to pursue its interdisciplinary MA in fashion and accessories design, where he eventually unearthed contradictions between the ethos of product design and the needs in everyday life.

Romain Bichot

For Brussels-born Romain Bichot, art has always been the way. His path led him to attend l’École des Beaux Arts, with La Cambre Mode(s) as a natural next step. There, this designer who grew up in theater developed an intensely personal voice that tapped into his discovery of clothing through costume and dress up.

Experiences as varied as Neith Nyer, Paco Rabanne and opera house La Monnaie have furthered a multifaceted and layered outlook that was reinforced when he became a design consultant to help a friend starting their own brand. During his final year at La Cambre, he was offered a position at Balenciaga Couture, where he has been working since June 2023.

Tal Maslavi

Israel-born designer Tal Maslavi uniquely channels his artistic voice to offer profound insights on social and political landscapes. Specializing in the male body, his work intertwines personal narratives, exploring themes of romance and relationships, creating an immersive journey through the realm of fashion.

Graduating with honors from the Shenkar College of Art, Design and Engineering in Tel Aviv, Tal’s impact transcends runways, sparking conversations and challenging norms, earning him critical acclaim and recognition as a transformative force in the global fashion scene. He also caught the eye of social medial thanks to witty designs that play on perceptions.

Victoria Baia and Victor Koehler

Graduates of the fashion design program at Paris’ Duperré School, fashion designers Victoria Baia and Victor Koehler are the founders of menswear label LA CAGE. Worknig in tandem since they began their studies seven years ago, they trained between Paris and London within the brands Haider Ackermann, Boramy Viguier, Saint Laurent, Yang Li and Dilara Findikoglu.

Since the beginning of their collaboration, each of their projects begins with the writing of a scenario from which they make a collection as well as a short film. They like to work with elements that have already lived, already have a history; wear and patina, whether authentic or artificial, take a central place in the aesthetics of their collections.

SUPIMA DESIGN COMPETITION OF SUPIMA DESIGN LAB 2024

For the past 167years, Supima has partnered with top design schools across the US to give runway exposure to the best of their recent design school graduates through the annual Supima Design Competition. Each finalist is tasked with creating an eveningwear capsule using Supima cotton fabrics, with their collections showcased in a runway presentation during NYFW. The winner, selected by a panel of industry judges, receives a $10,000 prize from Supima to kick-start their design career.

SUPIMA DESIGNER COMPETITION WINNER

Emma Joan Foley, Parsons School of Design

Hometown: Minneapolis, MN

Specialty: Contrast Design

Inspired by her mother’s career in shoe design and a lifelong passion for art, Emma Joan Foley’s early exposure to college-level design courses and internships at Carolina Herrera and Proenza Schouler solidified her path in fashion. Her education, enriched by studying at Parsons Paris and Central Saint Martins, has shaped her unique design approach, emphasizing fabric manipulation and the fluid integration of 2D and 3D techniques. Emma’s work frequently incorporates cotton textiles, particularly denim, for their versatility and structural qualities. Her Supima Design Competition collection explores the interplay between perceived and physical forms, drawing inspiration from body schema and the theoretical grotesque.

With aspirations to become a creative director at a luxury fashion house, Emma is driven by a deep appreciation for the balance of art and functionality in fashion. Her dedication and unique vision have already garnered attention, including features in Paper magazine. In her free time, Emma follows F1 Racing and enjoys swimming, a sport she pursued competitively throughout her youth.

THE SUPIMA CLASS OF 2023

Jules Gourley, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Hometown: Lafayette, IN

Specialty: Architectural Design

With a background as a Hospital Corpsman in the US Navy, Jules Gourley brings a unique approach to their designs. Their work often features structured woven fabrics and leather, focusing on themes of transformation and self-actualization. Jules’ collections have gained recognition, including a CFDA scholarship and first place at the Driehaus Fashion Awards.

Inspired by an interdisciplinary education, Jules values the blend of artistry and engineering in fashion. Their Supima Design Competition collection highlights anatomical forms and explores the body’s metamorphosis, influenced by brutalist sensibilities. With a dream to establish a small atelier, Jules aims to create bespoke, high-quality garments that resonate with their community. Jules’ commitment to authenticity and quality is evident in their design process, from pattern making to material selection. In addition to fashion, Jules enjoys tea, coffee, games, and exploring innovative pattern-making techniques.

Marina Lamphier, Drexel University

Hometown: Detroit, MI

Specialty: Garment Engineering

Marina Lamphier has always been drawn to the creative world of fashion, a path solidified during the COVID-19 quarantine when she realized the significance of self-expression through daily outfits. At Drexel University, where she graduated with a major in Fashion Design, Marina was able to hone her skills through influential courses like Fashion Design 1 and has embraced the real-world experience offered by the school’s internship/co-op curriculum. Her designs often begin with cotton, a fabric she frequently uses for its versatility and comfort.Marina’s design philosophy centers on meaningful creation, always starting with a clear purpose for each collection.

Her Supima Design Competition capsule collection is inspired by the metaphor of sailing, blending structural elements from the Golden Age of Sail with contemporary maritime aesthetics. This collection aims to revive femininity in the sport of sailing through bold graphics and innovative designs.

With dreams of running an outdoor performance activewear brand, Marina’s unique approach and diverse experiences set her apart in the fashion industry.

Mina Piao, Fashion Institute of Technology

Hometown: Dix Hills, NY

Specialty: Knitwear

Mina Piao’s journey in fashion began as early as five years old when she would dictate seasonal colors to her mom, a passion likely influenced by her grandmothers. Her educational experiences, including a study abroad program at Central Saint Martins, provided her with diverse skills in sewing, draping, patternmaking, and textile science, shaping her unique design approach.

Mina’s Supima Design Competition collection explores the contrasts between safety and vulnerability, inspired by her grandmother’s immigrant journey and her own mental health struggles. The collection highlights community support systems through intricate knitwear and layered textiles, symbolizing resilience and interconnectedness.

Mina aims to use fashion as a vehicle for change, challenging narratives and inspiring empathy and responsibility towards vulnerable communities. Her unique background in economics and fashion, combined with her dedication to social impact, distinguishes her as a forward-thinking designer.

Lizzy Truitt, Kent State University

Hometown: Decatur, AL

Specialty: Concept Design, Womenswear

Lizzy Truitt has a deep-rooted connection to cotton, stemming from her family’s cotton farm in Alabama. Her journey into fashion began in middle school, inspired by a career placement test and nurtured by her mother and grandmother’s sewing lessons. At Kent State, Lizzy honed her skills through the comprehensive BFA program, participating in the 2024 Annual Fashion Show with her senior thesis collection.

Lizzy’s Supima Design Competition capsule collection, “Life Lines,” explores the intersection of girlhood and womanhood, drawing inspiration from the women in her life and their influence on her identity. Her designs are characterized by feminine, romantic elements, incorporating line art and quilting to symbolize the passage of time and the complexity of womanhood. Lizzy’s design process is deeply personal, reflecting the joy and love of her family through the use of meaningful symbols such as quilts and bows.

Henry Hawk, Rhode Island School of Design

Hometown: Boulder, CO

Specialty: Denim

Henry Hawk’s journey into fashion began with a love for drawing and art, evolving into a passion for screen printing and creating unique clothing pieces during high school. At RISD, Henry honed his skills through courses in tailoring, knitting, and the history of denim, and developed a deep appreciation for cotton fabrics, particularly denim. His fascination with vintage fashion and sustainable design has led to accolades such as winning the 2023 Project Upcycle competition. Henry’s design process is research-intensive, drawing inspiration from historical workwear and bespoke tailoring techniques, which he integrates into contemporary fashion.

His Supima Design Competition capsule collection, “Patent Era Workwear meets Evening Dress,” reflects this blend of historical and modern influences. Henry’s designs have been showcased at various events, including Boston Fashion Week, where he spoke on sustainable fashion. His goal is to establish himself as a head designer at his own brand, continually pushing the boundaries of fashion with innovative and sustainable designs.