Smart Textiles Design Competition for Students

Textiles are leading the pack, this become more and more present. Check out this opportunity to win 6,500 EUR for Innovative Design with Smart Textiles

'A new ambitious project puts Denmark on the world map of smart textiles. The opening of the project is marked by an international prize competition for students with a prize of 6,500 EUR. Students from all over Europe are invited to take part, and the winner is found on 12 May 2011, when TEKO, VIA University College in Herning is host for a summit for international experts and companies working with smart textiles.'

Click here to read the press release!

Contact information:

Ms. Hanne Troels Jensen, Director, Knowledge Center for Smart textiles, Tel.: +45 87 55 05 47

E-mail: htj@viauc.dk

Future Fashion Textiles Competition

+ + + + + + TFRC’s Future Fashion Textiles Competition, 2011 + + + + + +

with VF Corporation, USA

Textile Futures Research Centre is to host a design competition with VF Corporation.

VF Corporation is a US based, $7 billion apparel conglomerate and parent company to over 25 global apparel brands, including The North Face, Vans, Lee, Wrangler, Eastpak, Jansport, and Nautica, as well as several others. They will hold an Innovation Summit to in September 2011 for the executive teams of each of VF's brands, where there will be an opportunity for University of the Arts London students to present cutting-edge design research and concepts.

The Textile Futures Research Centre (TFRC) is one of the UAL’s six research centres, and is renowned for its innovative and ground breaking work in the fields of practice-based textiles design research, which explores digital, science and sustainable textiles. This TFRC / VF competition is open to all students and recent graduates (2 yrs) from Central St Martins, London College of Fashion and Chelsea College of Art and Design, including: BA and MA Textiles at CSM and CCW; MA Fashion, CSM, and MA Digital Fashion, LCF; and TFRC & UAL Research Students

Themes

The competition covers five future textiles themes, which will be explored by eminent researchers in the various fields. The launch event will be on Monday 21^st February 2011 (2 – 6pm, Lecture Theatre 272 High Holborn):

Theme 1 ‘Simplicity Regained’ – Dr Emma Neuberg, Slow Textiles and Fashion Design

Theme 2 ‘Trust Rebalanced’ – Adam Thorpe, Design Against Crime (DAC)

Theme 3 ‘Networked Lives’ – Di Mainstone, Peformance, Technology and Fashion

Theme 4 ‘Responsible Living’ - Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino, Interaction Design

Theme 5 ‘Health & Wellness’ – Suzanne Lee, Biocouture

Prizes

· 10 x TFRC Making and Mentoring Awards (£250 cash and 2 feedback sessions with a mentor)

· Top prize of £1500, work included in the VF Corp USA Summit exhibition, & trip to the summit, September 2011

Timescale

Launch Event: Monday 21^st February 2011;

Deadline for Proposals: March 2011

Mentoring Awards announcement: April 2011

First Mentoring Session: May 2011, Innovation Centre, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design

For Further Info Visit http://tfrcconnections.blogspot.com/

Call for participation / electro-active polymers

Do you want to find out more about smart materials? Aurélie proposes you an immersion in the world of electro-active polymers: plastics changing shape with electricity. As a part of her PhD exploring the boundaries between textiles and architecture, she is looking for benevolent(s) to assist her for the making of a responsive installation. The installation will consist in a ceiling surface made out of electro-active modules, changing shape according to wind intensity and direction. It will be displayed within the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Copenhagen this coming month of March. Exhibition opens on the 11th of March and will be on until end of April.

Beyond the joys of team work, this is a great opportunity to discover the research environment CITA (Centre for IT & Architecture) as well as to get hands on and learn how to build electro-active modules. You will also get an insight on digital crafting methods, including laser-cutting and screen-printing techniques.

She would be happy to have help during these two key phases:

• 21rst of February – 6th of March: making of electro-active polymers
• 7th - 10th of March: setting up of the installation

If you are interested, please get in touch directly with Aurélie asp:

aurelie.mosse@karch.dk

+45 50 36 62 38

Call for Participation

*Call for Participation*

AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY

Calling all current fashion or textile design students/graduates interested in collaboration: you are hereby invited to participate in a practice-led research project exploring co-design.

Design has transitioned from an era of designing ‘for’ people towards the current era of designing ‘with’ people. Brown (2010) predicts that in the future, design will become a social experience and no longer practiced in isolation.

The term Generation Y is used to define a demographic (born between 1977 and 1997) who have grown up surrounded by digital media. Tapscott (2008) argues that this group are a force of social transformation:

- As consumers they want to be prosumers co-innovating products and services

- They use digital media to edit, create and distribute their own content

- They collaborate by constructing their own social networks

- They innovate by becoming active participants within the design process.

Economic changes bound up with globalisation are increasing pressures for people to re-think current models of design and production. The fashion industry is exploring new models to enable Gen Y to participate through exploratory marketing campaigns and streaming fashion week live online. There is huge potential for digital media and design to collaborate to construct new ways of working, but a re-think of the relationship between the designer and the consumer is required: both to consider how new technology can be used to enable the exchange of skills and knowledge, and to bring us into the future with consideration to the users needs and wants.

The selected participants will be invited to a design meeting where the project will be pitched and they will play an active role in defining the overall brief. You will leave with a goodie bag of design tools, tips and tricks to get started on your design research and development.

The following week we will meet again and get to work collectively designing a collection of fashion fabrics and accessories.

This is an exciting opportunity for you to participate in a live research project and play an active role in defining new design approaches, an excellent CV opportunity.

Participant Criteria

- A current fashion or textile design student or graduate

- An Interest and familiarity with digital media tools for example, blogging, twitter, Flickr and Facebook.

- Available for two weeks to participant from Monday 7th - 18th February 2011. There will be x2 real time meetings and the rest will be online.

How to Participate

Send a few short sentences describing YOU as a designer.

Send an email to: textiles2.0@gmail.com

Include: Your name, contact information, University of study, and a blog link if you have one.

Visit - http://thetextilesampler.blogspot.com/ for updates and further information. This is the first in a series of new projects so if your unavailable and would like to be considered for up and coming events just send a quick email.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

What is the impact of austerity on craft making and fashion design?

Call for Contributions Closing: 31-Mar-2011 The impact of recession and periods of austerity have led to changes in textile making and the skill base that supports these activities. The recent financial difficulties in the UK are resulting in an increase in craft based workshops, retail outlets stocking textile supplies and temporary shops popping up in residential areas that offer sewing machine classes and pay-by-the-hour sewing machines. Students and graduates of textile design courses are experiencing difficulties in obtaining work placements and employment in the sector. However, speaking recently Karl Lagerfeld (1) said that his work in fashion design has not been affected as he is working in a global arena where not all markets are in recession. The Crafts Council (2) reported in April 2009 that although there was a slight decrease in visitor numbers to recent contemporary craft events, there was no discernable impact on sales figures. They envisaged however a shift in the demographic of the contemporary crafts consumer. Changes in consumer attitudes and a reduction in the teaching of textile skills in schools have led to a generation with different perceptions of making. Through this second call, DUCK wishes to explore how craft making and textile design activity is affected by austerity. Submissions are invited which address one or more of the following themes: • What changes have been observed in textile craft making and/or textile design during and following periods of austerity such as financial recessions or war? • In what ways do changes brought about through periods of financial constraint perpetuate during ‘good times’? • How do textile designers and designer makers respond to changes in consumer demand and markets for their products? • In what ways do financial constraints such as increased costs for materials lead to innovation and ingenuity in craft making? • Do periods of austerity act as a catalyst for the acquisition of craft skills? Do they change the perceived value of textile design and making? • To what extent does reduced funding for textile and textile design research impact on craft makers? • How do periods of austerity impact on notions of luxury and bespoke in relation to textile products? Authors will be informed of the outcome of their submission by the end of July 2011. Submission Instructions Contributions may take the form of written texts (maximum 5,000 words), visual essays, a series of images relating to methods (sketchbook style), visual diaries or other methods deemed appropriate but must address the research question. Duck does not advise a particular format for written submissions although we ask that contributors present their ideas in an accessible format for Duck's diverse readership of researchers, educators, artists and designers. For written texts the Harvard System of referencing is preferred. Images should be 300dpi where possible, RGB format and submitted as TIFF or JPEG files. Text should be provided in MS Word (.doc), rich text (.rtf) or pdf format. Please provide your name, affiliation, email address, a title for your submission and a short summary of your contribution. Please send submissions by email to: F.E.Kane2@lboro.ac.uk (Maximum file size: 5mb) Alternatively, please send on disk (CD or DVD) to: DUCK Journal - Textiles Research Group Loughborough University School of Art and Design Loughborough Leicestershire LE11 3TU Copyright In submitting material to Duck, contributors thereby grant permission for it to be published on the Duck website. Contributors retain copyright of their material and may use it elsewhere after publication in Duck, though we would appreciate it if Duck could be acknowledged as the original source of publication. Please note that it is the responsibility of contributors to obtain the necessary permissions for reproducing work other than their own.

Website(s): - www.lboro.ac.uk

Inhabitating Adaptive Architecture Workshop

Extended deadline for what sounds like a very exciting workshop:

Inhabitating Adaptive Architecture
Saturday 5 March 2011

Chaired by Holger Schnädelbach and Jonathan Hale [The University of Nottingham]

Deadline for papers extended to Friday 28 January

Announcement of acceptance 4 February 2011

This workshop will bring togehter experts from the various disciplines contributing to Adaptive Architecture to discuss the challenges faced by inhabitants (individuals, groups & organisations) in occupying adaptive buildings over various time scales.

To download the call for papers (pdf) click HERE.

Please submit a one-page A4 document to include a brief bio and a position statement (of no more than 500 words), reflecting on what it means to you to inhabit Adaptive Architecture. Participants will be selected from all submissions based on peer-review. Submission should be formatted as MSoft Word document, 12 point Arial, singled spaced. It should also include five key words (normal type), your name, institution, qualifications, role, contact address, contact e-mail address, telephone number at top of document (bold type).

Papers should be submitted by 28January 2011 to adaptivearchitecture@buildingcentre.co.uk. If the file is larger than 10MB please send an ftp link or similar and we will download from there.

Source

Pop-up christmas shop

The christmas spirit is spreading all over from Copenhagen to London. If you still miss ideas for gifts, brush the snowflakes from your eyelashes and come take a peek at the Puff & Flock pop-up shop on Newburgh Street (just off Carnaby and around the corner from Liberty's of London). You will discover a series of textile christmas delights and other decoration accessories.

Location:
8 Newburgh Street, London W1f 7RQ

Opening Hours:
Monday, 13th December: 12 - 7 pm
Tuesday, 14th December: 12 - 9 pm *special evening event 6 - 9pm*
Wednesday, 15th December: 12 - 7pm
Thursday, 16th December: 12 - 8pm
Friday, 17th December: 12 - 7pm
Saturday, 18th December: 11 - 8pm
Sunday, 19th December: 12 - 6pm

List of Designers & Artists:
retourve by Bang Bang / Exclusive collection of up-cycled statement jewellery
Monstify / Anatomical crochet badges and more
Grit Hartung / Games, prints and t-shirts
Yuko Taguchi / Paper rings
Masako Sato / Mushroom hooks
Jo Angell / Printed cushions
smths / animated jewellery and vintage toys
Elisabeth Buecher / Make Up Wallpaper and greeting cards
Delight Rubellery / Colourful rubber jewellery by Ros Weaver
Super Chic Chick/ / Hair decorations by Marilou Rabourdin
Think-if / Elegant tea set and Zen Cup
Lucy Hall / Art works and textile design
Alexandra Cakyova / Cittatas - bird brooches
Fantastica / Laid-back intimates and vests
Tactile Wonderland / Intimates and jewellery

Read more:
http://www.carnaby.co.uk/news/news_item.cfm?id=213