Last Week For Entries To The Graduate Fashion Foundation X Kornit─Printed Fashion Textile Competition

PRESS ROOM

11 Feb

Written By Debbie Mckeegan

Image By Courtesy of Graduate Fashion Foundation

Kornit Digital and the Graduate Fashion Foundation of London have teamed up to create an exciting competition for UK Design students.

Kornit Digital is writing the operating system for on-demand, sustainable fashion. Their printing capabilities and workflow solutions power the biggest and fastest growing global brands. Kornit's printing solutions lead the industry in resource efficiency, consuming 90% less water and emitting 80% less GHG than silk-screen.

Graduate Fashion Foundation The charity behind Graduate Fashion Week, the largest showcase of BA fashion talent in the world. Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) was launched in 1991 as a forum to showcase the very best BA graduate fashion design talent in the UK. GFW is the world’s leading event for fashion graduates.

Showcasing the work of over 1,000 graduates from the most influential and inspiring UK and international universities, GFW represents the future of creative design talent. Attracting over 30,000 guests each June, the event features 22 catwalk shows, exhibitions from over 40 universities and an acclaimed Gala Award Show.

GFW bridges the gap between graduation and employment and is responsible for launching the careers of some of the most successful designers of our time including Christopher Bailey, who was the winner of the first ever Graduate Fashion Week Gold Award, Stella McCartney, Giles Deacon, Matthew Williamson and Julien Macdonald.

With a deadline of February 17th for entries, all qualifying students are urged to decide the composition of their entries, and to submit them without delay.

Who It Is Open To:

The competition is open to final year 2023 graduating students studying a design-based degree at Graduate Fashion Week Member Universities in the UK.

If in doubt please ask your tutor. Tutors there is unlimited entries per university, please enter all relevant collections.

The Prize:

· 8x selected finalists will be flown by Kornit to Düsseldorf this March 2023, to see their print go into production enabling them to return with their fabrics ready to complete their final collection.

· Each of the finalists prints will be showcased within the entrance space to Graduate Fashion Week 2023.

· 3x winners will then be selected from the finalists by Kornit, for their final collection to be shown on the catwalk during the Graduate Fashion Week 2023 Best of Show on Thursday 15th June 2023.

The Design Challenge:

Students using print as part of their final collection are invited to submit their designs for consideration by the Kornit team.

Competition Background:

About Kornit:

· Since 2002 we have led the industry’s transition to on-demand manufacturing, by far the most sustainable choice, and the enabler of our vision to let anyone, anywhere, anytime express their identity through textile. We are connecting demand, to supply… when and wherever it is needed. Delivering brands and consumers better choices; better customisation; better innovation; better supply chains.

· Kornit is writing the operating system for on-demand, sustainable fashion. Our printing capabilities and workflow solutions power the biggest and fastest growing global brands.

· Since our beginning we have innovated with a singular focus on more sustainable, on-demand production to enable better possibilities for brands, creators, and manufacturers.

· Our technologies enable on-demand, sustainable fashion that eliminates over-production and waste. Kornit's printing solutions lead the industry in resource efficiency, consuming 90% less water and emitting 80% less GHG than silk-screen. Now your brand can have a real positive impact. Producing sustainable fashion shouldn’t be a compromise. Kornit technology ensures the highest quality production possible. Your brand deserves the best: durability, high density colors, accurate color gamut, deluxe hand feel - on a wide range of textile media. No compromise, you can have it all.

· From the 1st product, to the 10,000th, brands require consistent and identical print output. Kornit’s fully digital technology, monitors and controls every aspect of production in the world’s largest qualified network printing service - whether its on-shore or overseas - Consumer satisfaction is guaranteed. Best of all, on-demand production means never missing the trend, marking goods down, or worse, scrapping inventory.

You can find out more here about Kornit’s work at https://www.kornit.com or @kornitdigital on Instagram.

Work Submission:

Each Student must submit:

· 1 x board of final collection line up

· Up to 6x boards maximum showcasing the print/s in detail and how it will be applied to the garments

· 1x research board showcasing the design process/ inspiration of the print/s

· 1 x 500-word submission explaining the entry

Students are encouraged to document their print design journey with videos/reels on social media channels and TikTok with #KornitXGFW

NB: Entrants must have a valid passport for travel and will be responsible for their own travel insurance.

Online digital entries of the work must be received by February 17th 2023

Judging Round 1:

All digital entries will be reviewed on February 18th by a professional industry judging panel and the 8x students finalists will be informed on February 24th.

8x finalists to be flown to Düsseldorf in March 2023 (date TBC)

Judging Round 2:

All shortlisted physical garments to arrive in London for physical judging day with professional panel. The winners will be informed that afternoon and garments will be kept for retail in London stores.

All digital entries must be submitted as one PDF no larger than 10MB.

Please ensure you include the entrant’s full name, university, course and personal contact details.

Submissions can only be made by a university tutor and not by the student directly. Late entrants will not be included in the selection process.