Design Contest 2021 – Long Live Fashion!

Do you want to design sustainable garments that will actually be worn and have you always wanted to display your work in an exhibition? Take part in the Design Contest of the TextielMuseum x BANK 15. Design a sustainable garment from post-consumer textile and submit your design before 30 May 2021. The two winning designs will be developed on the spot in the new exhibition ‘Long Live Fashion!’ , which opens at the museum on September 25, 2021.

Foto: Coco Olakunle

New exhibition ‘Long Live Fashion!’
The Design Contest is launched in the run-up to the new exhibition ‘Long Live Fashion!’. A collaboration of the TextielMuseum with designers Christien Meindertsma, Harm Rensink / New Order of Fashion and Wolkat, a company for circular textile recycling. The exhibition zooms in on the question of how we can realize a circular chain of textiles, particularly as a consumer and designer. For example, how do we deal with clothing? And how can we repair and reuse?

 

About the Design Contest
Fitting to the theme of the exhibition, the Design Contest challenges young designers to design a surprising and wearable item of clothing or outfit made from post-consumer textiles. Your design should include a proposal for how discarded textile products can be given a second life as clothing with a high design value. Keep in mind that your design must be feasible using a range of textiles found in a clothing recycling bin.

The two winning designs will be produced in the exhibition’s micro-factory by students from ROC Tilburg, School for Fashion. The textiles used to make the designs will be supplied by Wolkat, a circular textile recycling company. The company collects post-consumer textiles from clothing recycling bins, sorts them by colour and quality and removes any non-textile items such as zippers, labels and buttons. In the exhibition’s micro-factory, these textiles will be given a new life as a real fashion item.

 

Win and become a part of the exhibition
From all submitted designs, two winners will be chosen who will continue to develop their garment so that they can actually be produced. During the exhibition ‘Long Live Fashion!’ these garments are produced live in a textile micro-factory together with the designs of Christien Meindertsma. For a small fee, museum visitors can ‘commission’ a design by the winners, in addition to designs by Christien Meindertsma. Additionally, the two chosen designers will present their garment in the exhibition with a video portrait of the design process, they will receive a fee of € 600 and each garment will be provided with a label with the (brand) name of the designer.

 

Take part and share your idea
Do you dream of people wearing your sustainable design? And have you always wanted to see your work displayed in an exhibition? Then enter the Design Contest 2021! Submit your design via the website of BANK15 by 30 May 2021. International designers are welcome to participate in the Design Contest. Please note that the winners are expected to be present in the TextielMuseum on 3 September 2021 (the travel costs are for their own account).

What specifications should your design meet?

• The design should be made entirely from post-consumer textiles. These could be discarded clothes but also lining material, bed linen, curtains, tea towels and so on.
• Keep in mind that the design should suit a variety of body shapes and sizes.
• In your design, take into account the feasibility and manufacturability of the garment or outfit.
• Buttons, zippers, labels and patches are a problem in textile recycling. In your design, consider a solution for the application of buttons and zippers.

Submission criteria:

• A description of your concept (max. 300 words): describe the idea behind the concept and suggest the kind of post-consumer textiles that can serve as the basis for the execution of your design.
• A design drawing.
• Three clear photos of the prototype of the garment or outfit (worn by a model).

 

Selection procedure
All the designs submitted will be judged by a professional jury consisting of:

• Suzan Rüsseler – Curator, TextielMuseum
• Harm Rensink – Designer/artistic director, New Order of Fashion
• Marieke Flipse – Teacher, ROC Tilburg, School for Fashion
• Fenne Verhoeven – BANK15

The selection starts with a shortlist of 5 designs. On 11 June 2021, our jury will announce whether your design belongs to the shortlist (via a personal message). Based on discussions with our jury, two winners will be chosen on 1 July 2021. These two designers will earn a spot in the exhibition and their garments will be developed in the micro-factory! For them, a kick-off will take place in the museum on 3 September 2021 to convert the designs into a workable piece of clothing.

All designers who are not selected will be personally informed. The selected shortlist designs and the winners will be brought to the attention of the social media channels of BANK15 and the TextielMuseum. They will also be invited to the VIP opening of the exhibition on 24 September 2021.