Anbasja Blanken & Italian mill ITV Denim win GDA

The winning team of Blanken and ITV Denim showcased a glow in the dark denim collection inspired by corals. Blanken said, “My concept was about the deep sea, and more specifically coral, the ‘flowers of the sea’. Some coral’s colours alternate when the light changes. It can even be luminescent. What if my denim pieces produced light themselves?”

“It was not easy but we found a way of putting the luminescence into our yarn,” said Barbara Gnutti of ITV Denim.

Indian denim mill Arvind won the Honorary Best Fabric award for its innovative yet traditional fabrics. The khadi fabrics, which were used by designer Roosmarijn Koster for her capsule collection developed in collaboration with Arvind, were traditionally handwoven.

“To us as a jury, innovation is not only a way of creating new technologies, but it’s also looking back and realising that if we lose the past, we’ll lose it forever. By conserving the past, we are nurturing the future. Arvind supports villages and its inhabitants to continue creating this traditional denim. Economically that does not make sense. But from a sustainability point of view, it’s invaluable. That’s why the Fabric Award also goes to the mill’s community, not to Arvind alone,” said jury member Leverton.

GDA 2016 paired 11 emerging fashion designers with a selection of the most progressive denim mills worldwide, in order to co-create elaborate and inspired capsule collections. These collections showcased the collaborators’ combined craftsmanship, original designs and denim innovations.

The collections were judged by an international jury of denim industry experts, comprised of the designer and best-selling author of Denim Dudes Amy Leverton, the designer/stylist duo Art Comes First, trendhunter and self-confessed denim junkie Kelly Harrington, and the global sales director of Scotch & Soda Alex Jaspers.

The GDA was made possible by e3 Cotton, and initiated and organised by HTNK fashion recruitment and consultancy agency, Kingpins denim sourcing show and House of Denim, an Amsterdam-based foundation.

The winning collection will be exhibited at Kingpins Shows in New York City and Hong Kong, before returning to the Netherlands for Amsterdam Denim Days 2017. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India