Amsterdam – Dutch designer Anbasja Blanken has been crowned the best
designer of the 2016 Global Awards, together with partnering denim mill ITV
Denim. The young designer was named the victor from a group of who were paired with 11
established denim mills Wednesday night during the award ceremony third
annual edition.
As the winner of the 2016 Global Denim Awards, Blanken was given cash
prize of 10,000 euros. Her winning collection will also go on display at
Kingpins shows in New York, Hong Kong as well as during Amsterdam Denim
Days 2017. In addition to Blanken winning the award for best collection,
Indian mill Arvind was given the Honorary Best Fabric Award for weaving the
most innovative denim fabric.
The Global Denim Awards 2016 challenged the 11 designers and mills to
create a capsule collection which showcased the collaborators’ combined
craftsmanship, original designs, and denim innovation. The collections were
then judged by an international jury of denim industry experts which
included denim trend forecast 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.
“My concept was about the deep sea, and more specifically coral, the
‘flowers of the sea’,” said Blanken on the inspiration behind her winning
collection. “Some coral’s colours alternate when the light changes. It can
even be luminescent. [So I asked] what if my denim pieces produced light
themselves?” In order to honour the designers vision, ITV Denim took up the
challenge of creating glow in the dark denim fabric, which undoubtedly
helped the young designer win the award. “It was not easy, but we found a
way of putting the luminescence into our yarn,” said Barbara Gnutti, Export
Manager at ITV Denim.
“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,” said Leverton on Arvind winning fabric. “By
conserving the past, we are nurturing the future. Arvind supports these
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.”
The Global Denim Awards was first initiated and organised by HTNK, Kingpins
Show and House of Denim in 2014. Since then it has nearly double in
participants and currently coincides with the fall edition of the Kingpins
show in Amsterdam.
During the month of October, which sees Denim trade fair Kingpins and the
Global Denim Awards taking place, FashionUnited focuses on Denim. For all
our articles on Denim, click .
Photos: Global Denim Awards