TextileLab Amsterdam wins Future Fashion Pioneers competition

By

Shomara Roosblad

Published
Dec 14, 2018

Ista Boszhard and Cecilia Raspanti of TextileLab Amsterdam have been named the winners of Future Fashion Pioneers, a competition organised by Dutch television program VPRO Tegenlicht.

TextileLab Amsterdam is a lab for fashion, textile and material designers; researchers, artists, and engineers; and creatives interested in exploring the future of the textile and clothing industry. The project is part of the European funded project: Textile and Clothing Business Labs (TCBL).

During the competition, the TV program searched for “people with progressive ideas about the future of fashion.” Viewers were able to name and vote for designers they believe “make fashion, fabrics or production processes that will change the fashion industry in a sustainable way and make it more social and fair.”

The 2018 jury consisted of José Teunissen, lecturer at the London College of Fashion, UAL, and professor of fashion theory; Jasna Rokegem, digital designer, inventor and founder Jasna Rok; and Peter Leferink, founder M-ODE, director PCL, fashion teacher AMFI.

The jury said that the work of Boszhard and Raspanti deserves a pioneering status for their concrete applications such as textile paints made with bacteria; the development of degradable plastics; and 3D-printed solutions, in which nature is the source of inspiration. Furthermore, the jury praised the duo, because their work proved to be scalable and accessible via the lab’s open source.

The competition consisted of a total 184 participants, which were then narrowed to five finalists: two selected by VPRO Tegenlicht viewers and website visitors and three chosen by the competition jury.

VPRO Tegenlicht is a series of informative television programs that explores new ideas and trends within the world of politics, economy, society, technology and science. Following the competition, Boszhard and Raspanti will be the subject of an upcoming short video for VPRO Tegenlicht, which will be recorded in January 2019.