Fashion Values names winners of its 2021 competition

Sustainability education programme Fashion Values has named the winners of its Fashion Values Challenge 2021, a competition that challenged applicants to develop new fashion products, systems and services that prioritise restoring nature.

The three winners are Ecce ‘Second Nature’ by US-based stylist and creative director Erik Hesselman, Future Wardrobe by Future Wardrobe Collective, and Kinabuhi: New Life through Modern Weaves by designer and handloom weaver Jessica Ouano.

The winners of the competition will receive six months of mentoring from the competition’s judges to assist them to develop their project. Additionally, the three winners will join the other finalists at the second Fashion Values Roundtable at the beginning of 2022.

The judges of the award are the following: Helen Crowley, partner at Pollination Group; Karl Haller, consumer centre of competency leader at IBM; Sara Maino, deputy director at Vogue Italia and head of Vogue Talents and Sarah Needham, knowledge exchange manager at Centre for Sustainable Fashion.

Photo credit: Viviana Contreras

Art direction and styling: Erik Hesselman, Ecce ‘Second Nature’

Hesselman’s tech fashion platform used augmented reality photo filters to replicate the physical experience. He explained in his application: “Ecce is for everybody who desires change in fashion’s limited concept of beauty, and anybody that ever felt too self-conscious to browse through a luxury boutique,” according to a statement.

The Future Wardrobe Collective includes Catherine, Jess, Lara and Thora who together are artists, designers, researchers and storytellers. Their project was created with regenerative materials from kelp and asks the following question, ‘what can we do to assist living networks that thrive and promote Nature to sustain its bounty and diversity?’

Ouano’s project centred around creating unique products through re-working damaged or unwanted second-hand garments and combining these with regenerative hand-woven textiles, created in collaboration with handloom weaving communities.

View the video below to listen to the winners:

Photo credit: Unsplash

Video: London College of Fashion via YouTube