Eco Designer Of The Future Winner 2016 Rachel Stutins
Charlie Bradley Ross
Monday, 8 February 2016
We are thrilled to announce the winner of our Eco Designer of the Future 2016 Competition, Rachel Stutins! With over 1,000 votes placed, it was a close run race but Rachel's forward thinking designs just pipped the others to the post.
Rachel is studying Fashion Design at the University of Leeds and she will be using the Offset Warehouse prize to help create her final collection. Here's a little bit more about where she's up to so far!
The outfit I submitted for the Eco Designer of The Future 2016 award is from the collection I have designed as part of my Fashion Design BA. There are three innovative aspects to my collection; sustainability, interaction with the customer and the collection's modern take on weaving.
Congratulations Rachel Stutins on being the @OffsetWarehouse Eco Designer of The Future 2016!
Fabrics used within the collection include bamboo, hessian, banana, hemp silk, seacell, alpaca wool and upcycled wadding. I have chosen to use these fabrics because they are considered sustainable for different reasons and I want my collection to educate and raise awareness of the many ways it is possible to be ethical.
"I have chosen a minimal colour pallet to keep the use of dyes to a minimum as they can be harmful to the environment. Any dyed fabrics I do incorporate have been dyed using low impact dyes.
The collection focuses on weaving in a modern way. To do this I have combined modern technologies such as laser cutting with more traditional techniques.
Here are some of Rachel's Toiles for the collection:
Customers can interact with some of the garments by weaving them themselves. This suddenly transforms a garment to something completely unique and individual. Furthermore, customers have a deeper understanding and emotional connection to that item as they are directly involved in its creation.
We can't wait to see how this project keeps developing. We will keep in touch with Rachel throughout the year and update you with her final collection when it's finished! We are super excited to be supporting fresh talent.
Make sure you sign up for our newsletters for further announcements, and if you'd like apply next year!