Inside the 2021/22 Ravensbourne & Kingpins Student Project
While denim is a timeless textile, there is an almost limitless array of aesthetics and attitudes that can be conveyed using the ubiquitous fabric. A recurring project between Ravensbourne University London and Kingpins Show is centered on the idea of denim creativity and innovation.
The seventh edition of the Creative Collaboration kicked off at the Transformers Foundation ED event in October 2021. This initiative pairs undergraduate (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management students with year two (Hons) Fashion students to create a denim brand from scratch in just 10 weeks. In addition to designing and producing garments, the teams also develop a marketing and branding plan for their labels.
As they work on building their brands, students get support from industry mentors in the denim production space. TENCEL™ was among the participating companies, which included mills, trim manufacturers and sustainable innovators.
On Feb. 11, the 15 groups of students presented their work to a panel of judges. This event, cohosted by Endrime’s Mohsin Sajid, Denim Forum’s Sue Barrett and Mandi Marks, the course leader for BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management, included a pre-recorded talk by Andrew Olah of Kingpins Show and a live discussion with Naveena Denim Ltd.’s Rashid Iqbal Nasir.
The top three winning teams—Interim, Morvah and Novanta—will have their work displayed at the upcoming April Kingpins Show in Amsterdam. The show will also feature a video recapping the project.
In addition to the trio of winners, honorable mentions went to Proxy, “New SDG”; Giotto, “Amazing Illustrations”; Gaia, “Most Comprehensive”; and Lorica, “Inventive and Beautiful Use of Denim.”
Participating companies for the 2021/22 year were: Anubha, Arvind, Bossa, Candiani Denim, Coats, Crescent Bahuman, Cone Denim, Denim Prive/Kassim Denim, Hewitt Heritage Fabrics, Jeanologia, Kurabo, Neela, Naveena Denim LTD (NDL), Orta, TENCEL™/Carved in Blue®, Transformers Foundation and YKK.
Judges for the event were: Arzu Turgay, Coats; Carme Santacruz, Jeanologia; Rashid Iqbal Nasir, Naveena Denim LTD NDL; Kelly Harrington, denim influencer and designer; Jessica Gebhart, I and me; Sadia Rafique, Endrime; Zennure Danisman, Orta; Ozge Özsoy, Bossa; Pierette Scavuzzo, Cone Denim; Katie Doherty, YKK; Miguel Sanchez, Transformers Foundation/Kingpins Show; Siren Uludag, Denim Prive; Leanne Jae, denim designer; and Nim Gadhia, freelance denim designer.
The next edition of the Creative Collaboration project will kick off this October.
Click through the slideshow below to see more of the projects.
