Craft the Leather 2016: the winner is…
Ad| Craft the Leather is a project organized and financed by Consorzio Vera Pelle Italiana Conciata al Vegetale (Genuine Italian Vegetable-Tanned Leather Consortium). Nine students, from international fashion and design institutes of excellence, participated in Craft The Leather 2016:
- Masahiro Abe – Bunka Fashion College – Japan
- Giulia Andreoli – IED Istituto Europeo di Design – Italy
- Whitney Yu Bai – Rhode Islands School of Design – USA
- Shannen Gallardo – Fashion Institute of Technology -USA
- Kira Anne Goodey – Royal College Art – UK
- Young Bin Kong – Kookmin University – South Korea
- Aleksandra Kukula – Northampton University – UK
- Nasami Kushino – Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry – Japan
- Helga Sigurdardottir – SLEM – Netherlands
Each student designed and made an original collection of personal accessories in Tuscan veg-tanned leather, all of high quality for content and manufacturing, which were displayed at Lineapelle in Milan from February 21st to 23rd , 2017.
Lineapelle is one of the most important international leather fairs and this edition of the trade show was visited by over 20.000 professionals. The stand of Craft the Leather at Hall 9 achieved resounding success and received gratifying feedback by designers, manufacturers, and press on the quality of the exhibited prototypes, with thousands of visitors who stopped by to view and photograph the collections.
This result is confirmed by over 1,000 ballots cast by the professional community visiting the fair. The collections in competition were voted by a Panel of Experts, by the visitors at the fair and online by the consortium’s followers.
The panel of experts who formed the jury were:
- Antonella Bertagnin – Creative director and “Trend Selection” coordinator at Lineapelle, she is today considered to be one of the foremost and most trusted Italian trendsetters in the field of footwear and leather goods
- Roberta Bindi – Editor in Charge of COLLEZIONI. Distributed in over 54 countries, the Collezioni group is the undisputed leader in the fashion magazine sector, at the service of trade operators, opinion leaders and anyone with a passion for images and creativity.
- Marco Marchetti – Studio 44, design and product research studio
- Liza Snook – Shoe collector, founder of the Virtual Shoe Museum (the online museum – a renowned platform for shoe designers and shoe lovers) and curator of exhibitions and events all over the world. Besides the exhibitions, she scouts talent, helps designers to promote their work, judges at design colleges and works as image researcher for international publishers.
- Lisa Sorrell – A bespoke cowboy boot maker and ambassador for the craft of cowboy boot making–speaking, demonstrating, and teaching to preserve and promote this historic craft
- Andrea Toni – Esteemed tanning technician with long experience, he manages ToniLab 25, research and high-end finishing laboratory for exotic leather.
- Isabel Von Vegesack – Esteemed german leather-blogger.
The five criteria for the Jury:
- Design inspired by qualities intrinsic to Veg-Tan Leather
- Innovative use of Veg-Tan Leather
- Excellent Aesthetics
- Craftsmanship
- Story telling of the Collection/ Does the Collection engage?
The final ranking of the jury, which evaluated the collections by assigning scores to the 5 different criteria, showed these results:
- Nasami Kushino – Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry 303 total
- Kira Anne Goodey – Royal College Art 257 total
- Whitney Yu Bai – Rhode Islands School of Design 249 total
Kira Anne Goodey obtained the highest score for : Design inspired by qualities intrinsic to Veg-Tan Leather;
Whitney Yu Bai for Innovative use of Veg-Tan Leather and Excellent Aesthetics;
Nasami Kushino for : Craftsmanship + Story telling of the Collection;
More about the competition and the final votes you can read here.
Text Origin: Consorzio Vera Pelle Italiana Conciata al Vegetale (Genuine Italian Vegetable-Tanned Leather Consortium)
