Call for Submissions: UK Fashion Designer

[ADF]

The British Council, Philippine fashion magazine Look and the Philippine Daily Inquirer are offering a UK designer the opportunity showcase your collections at the Look of Style Fashion Awards and explore the Philippine fashion and textiles industries.

 

The Philippines has an incredible and diverse textile sector from antique and traditional weaving to natural dyeing and manufacturing. This alongside the growing contemporary fashion scene offers a rich and exciting opportunity for research.

 

Your work will be shown on the catwalk alongside the collections of local designers.  The project is intended to highlight the most innovative emerging talent from both the UK and the Philippines. Some background information on Philippine textiles and fashion is provided at the bottom of this post..

 

Programme

 The programme will take place from 2–7 October and include: Presentation of collection at Look of Style Awards; Attending the Look of Style Awards ceremony; A talk for students at the School of Fashion and the Arts; and Industry meetings with the Philippine Garments &Textiles Office, the Fashion Design Council of the Philippines and more.

 

In addition to this official programme, you could develop your own extra programme of personal research and visits to shops, markets, weavers and manufacturers. The British Council can help organise this, by offering suggestions, introductions, arranging visits and help with logistics. However the cost of accommodation and living expenses during this time will be covered by the designer.

 

Submission Requirements

We are inviting submissions from UK based designers who have professionally presented a minimum of 2 collections.  Please supply images of your collections (format can be either pdf or weblink) along with a brief cover letter to express your interest in the project. Submissions to by email to [e-mail]

 

Deadline

All submissions should be received before 5pm, Wednesday 3 August. Any submissions received after this time will not be considered.  The successful designer will be notified by Wednesday 10 August.

 

 

 

 

Philippine Fashion and Textiles

The Philippines offers numerous opportunities to research indigenous fabrics such as Piña (pineapple fibre), Jusi and Abaca fibre (Manila Hemp - which is woven to make sinamay fabric) as well as new plant fibre textiles including saluyot, banana, ramie, and maguey.  There is a long history of weaving and dyeing from Abel weavers in North Luzon and Binakol weavers in Barangay Mindoro to Itneg natural dyeing in Bangued, silk tapestries from Sulu and ikat abacá garments from Mindanao.

 

Popular textiles used for embroidery such as Pinya and Jusi are easily accessible in terms of availability from markets in Manila, but there are also specialist traditional/indigenous fabrics like inabel, tinalak which are only to be found in remote areas in the Philippines island chain.

 

For sourcing there are numerous textile markets and antique textiles shops in Manila and all across the Philippines. Other areas of interest might be centres such as the Heritage Arts and Crafts centre, one of the most successful weaving businesses or the Garment Trade and Industry Office (GTIDO).

 

Look Magazine, published by the Philippine Daily Enquirer

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/category/look-magazine

 

Popular Philippine fashion magazines and blogs

Style Bible www.stylebible.ph

Bryan Boy http://www.bryanboy.com/

Street Manila http://streetmanila.blogspot.com/

 

Overview of Philippine textile market event

http://museumfoundationph.org/news/2009/01/27/woven-to-a-fine-art-p...

 

 

 

Organisation

• British Council will organise all travel and accommodation for the duration of the programme, will set up an introduction to Philippines fashion and can assist the designer in developing and organising a programme for personal research if desired.
• The British Council will pay for flights, accommodation and expenses for the duration of the official programme.
• Look Magazine will organise the catwalk show as part of the awards including sourcing models, event production etc.
• The designer will liaise with Look Awards team on the staging of the show and provide all garments, accessories and information on looks for the fashion show, and prepare a short presentation on their work to be delivered to students at the fashion college.

[Ethical Fashion Forum]

What an amazing opportunity!

 

I have shared this on our facebook page and will also broadcast to the network as it would be great to get an ethical brand on board.

 

Emma

 

[ADF]

Thanks, we agree!  It's certainly an exciting opportunity - especially for an ethical designer to see the beautiful Philippino textiles that utilize natural local fibres and craftsmen and for them to research to see if there is a way they can incorporate their textiles or methods into their work.  We look forward to receiving submissions!