Ravensbourne Students Team with Mills to Develop New Denim Brands
For the eighth year, Ravensbourne University London asked students to develop a denim brand from scratch. Over the course of just 10 weeks, second-year students created concepts and brought them to life with the help of denim mills.
Participating mills included Bossa, Candiani, Cone, Crescent, Orta and Soorty. Students also received mentorship from Mohsin Sajid, Jessica Gebhart, Leanne Jae and Sue Barrett.
Fifteen groups presented their collections on Jan. 25, and a panel of denim industry experts chose three winners from the bunch. TENCEL™ was a proud sponsor of this project, and our very own Michael Kininmonth was part of the judging panel.
The other judges were:
- Sera Kutat – Soorty
- Michelle Bondulich – Renewcell
- Nora Eslander – Renewcell
- Leanne Jae – Blackhorse Lane Ateliers
- Jessica Gebhart – I and Me
- Ame Pearce – denim designer
- Nicole Ajimal – WGSN
- Nim Gadhia – consultant designer
- Fahid Jaaouan – Candiani
- Mim Heyes – denim specialist
- Faye Dickinson – denim specialist
Sponsors and contributors to this year’s initiative included Amy Robertson Studio, Bossa, Blackhorse Lane, Candiani Denim, Coats, Cone Denim, Crescent Bahuman, Endrime / Denim History, Denim Research, Denim Forum, I and Me, Isko, Marmara Hemp, Orta, Renewcell, Soorty, Three By One, Tonello, YKK and WGSN.
The first place team was No Work Tomorrow, which partnered with Orta. The students put a new spin on workwear and used AI as design assistants.
Second place went to 1723, which collaborated with Cone to create a collection that can transition between seasons.
Fisk, which worked with Soorty, came in third. This brand was inspired by heritage fishermen attire and uses denim to make a statement about flooding in Soorty’s native Pakistan.
Honorable mentions were also given to Esoteric and Organised Chaos.
Stay tuned on Carved in Blue as we dive into the winning designs.