- Fashion student Kim Linghoff wins the KappAhl Sustainable Design Contest 2017
Mölndal, Sweden, 2017-May-01 — /EPR Retail News/ — A unanimous jury has named fashion student Kim Linghoff winner of the KappAhl Sustainable Design Contest 2017. The winning entry is about upcycling and puts excess yarn otherwise wasted in clothing production to use.
“The winning entry showcases smart design with a view to a sustainable fashion future.
Kim’s upcycling idea is playful, tasteful and innovative. We see a lot of potential to create something really interesting with Kim,” says Maria Segergren, Vice President, Assortment and Design.
The KappAhl Sustainable Design Contest is a competition for fashion and textiles students who would like to get involved in developing the sustainable design solutions of the future. This year’s winner is Kim Linghoff, a 28-year-old student of fashion at Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm. Her winning entry is based on the idea of making use of excess yarn from clothing production to create modern knitted garments
The jury’s statement reads, “This year’s winning entry is about upcycling. Kim Linghoff has shown how we can both playfully and tastefully combine newly produced materials with excess materials from previous production to make new and exciting knitted garments. A smart way of breathing new life into waste materials instead of throwing them away.”
“As a designer, I neither want nor need to choose between sustainability and high fashion. The tops I designed for my entry stand out and demand attention. Sustainable, knitted garments don’t need to be plain, practical things that just hang off you; these are tops that I would want to wear myself,” says Linghoff.
This autumn, Linghoff will develop her solution together with KappAhl’s design team.
About the KappAhl Sustainable Design Contest
Over 80 per cent of a product’s environmental impact is determined at the drawing board. This makes sustainable design a field with both great potential and plenty of room for experimentation and creative ideas. That’s why KappAhl set up the KappAhl Sustainable Design Contest, for design students in fashion and textiles with a connection to Sweden, Finland, Norway and Poland who want to be involved in developing the sustainable design solutions of the future. Find more on the contest at http://www.kappahl.com/designcontest.
The jury for the Sustainable Design Contest consisted of fashion journalist Emilia de Poret; Kate Goldsworthy, Senior Research Fellow at University of the Arts, London and part of Mistra Future Fashion; Maria Segergren, KappAhl’s Vice President Assortment and Design; Karin Verdoes, KappAhl’s designer; Lina Nyqvist, KappAhl’s sustainability manager for assortment; and Eva Kindgren de Boer, KappAhl’s sustainability manager for production.
Last year’s winner in store now
After last year’s competition, 2016 winner Lovisa Malmberg Gomis has designed two dresses with KappAhl’s design team on the theme of multifunctionality. The dresses are available in KappAhl’s stores at the moment, as part of this year’s Celebrate collection. Watch a film about the dresses here.
KappAhl aims to create high-quality, value-for-money fashion, produced with care and respect for people and the environment. Today, 38% of the company’s products are sustainability-labelled, and it aspires to use only sustainably produced cotton by 2020.
KappAhl was founded in 1953 in Gothenburg and is a leading fashion chain in the Nordic region, with nearly 380 stores in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Poland, together with Shop Online. Our business concept is to offer value-for-money fashion of our own design to a wide range of consumers.
In 2015/2016, turnover was SEK 4.7 billion, with approx. 4,000 employees in nine countries. KappAhl is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.
Download file: 170427 Promising designer wins KappAhl Sustainable Design Contest 2017
PRESS CONTACTS:
Maria Segergren
Vice President
Assortment and Design.
Tel: +46 (0) 704 71 55 32.
Fredrika Klarén
Head of Sustainability.
Tel: +46 (0) 704 71 55 58.
For photos and company information
Charlotte Högberg
Head Corporate Communications
Tel. +46 (0) 704 71 56 31
charlotte.hogberg@kappahl.com.
Source: KappAhl
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