Kingpins
Live Project
For the past two years Ravensbourne students have been selected to have their collections exhibited at Kingpins Show — a denim trade show held across New York, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and China.
Groups made up of BA (Hons) Fashion and BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management students were challenged to create a range of denim garments as well as branding for their collections across ten weeks by their tutors. They were mentored by denim specialists throughout the project and provided denim from four leading mills across the world: Cone Mills (USA), Kurabo (Japan), Bossa (Turkey) and Orta (Turkey). Additionally, trims for their designs were provided by YKK (Japan).
The /’SANGWIN/ team were awarded first place prize – the opportunity to display their work at Kingpins Show in Amsterdam on 10 - 11 April, and in New York on 5 - 6 June. Comprised of; Thomas Matthews, BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management; Catherine Rees, BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management; Amelia Walker, BA (Hons) Fashion; Del-Juan Brown, BA (Hons) Fashion and Aurora Myyry, BA (Hons) Fashion, the team sought to create ‘a uniform for the underground insurgence’, empowering wearers with dark colours and sleek designs. The collection was designed with the intention to not exclude any specific market, being open to all ages and genders.
New.topian and Admin were both named runners up. New.topian took influence from generations of female workers who weren’t accommodated to in terms of clothing and workwear, crafting garments ‘built to last as long as your career’. Admin were inspired by ‘the rat race, hierarchy and business, constructing garments that create a humorous conflict between denim and the suit.’
Kingpins Foundation: Transformers:ED
Following the success of the project, Kingpins went onto create Transformers: ED. An educational event for University students focusing on sustainability in the denim supply chain- with the first being hosted in partnership with Ravensbourne.