Yaku Takes Home Challenge the Fabric 2024 Award
Challenge the Fabric (CTF) has announced Yaku as the winner of the CTF Award 2024. The Afrofuturism-inspired designer will receive a cash prize of $10,000 for their creation and winning look created with their CTF Award innovation partner, Impetus Group, and Circulose by Renewcell.
“Yaku’s work for the CTF Awards stands out for its innovative, creative and deeply personal approach, coupled with a commercial edge that resonates with a broad audience,” the initiative said. “His design weaves realism, storytelling and futuristic elements with a unisex appeal, making it an iconic piece with incredible use of the material provided by Impetus Group and Circulose.”
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The CTF Award is a competition that promotes the use of biobased and recycled materials through partnerships with emerging designers and sustainable material innovators.
“The partners play a crucial role in the CTF Award as it is with their innovative technologies and processes that fabrics can be provided to the designers containing the next generation of textile fibers,” Nina Elmersson, vice president innovare at Ekman Group, said. “Each partner supplies their assigned designer with fabrics made from their specific product, that will be used in the making of the finished garment. As an innovation partner, they have the chance to showcase their technology and innovative process through the finished product and demonstrate the commerciality of new alternative fibers.”
Eight finalists were “challenged” to create a look using 10 meters of man-made cellulosic fibers (MMCF) fabric, provided by the innovation partners. The finalists included Abra, Karoline Vitto, Louise Lyngh Bjerregaard, Paolina Russo, Renata Brenha, Sylvi Sundkler, Vel Don Sa Lim and Yaku. The innovation partners included OnceMore, HeiQ AeoniQ together with Mas Holdings, Nanollose, Spinnova, Birla Cellulose, Infinited Fiber, Pyratex and Impetus Group together with Circulose.
Each look was showcased as part of an exhibition during CTF in Milan in the middle of May, judged based on criteria like creativity and innovation when working with MMCF fabric. The jury included Andrea Rosso, sustainability ambassador and creative director, Diesel Living; Caterina Tonda, RTW sustainable development manager, Material Innovation Lab Kering; Iretidayo Zaccheaus, founder of Street Souk; Pavel Dler, founder and CEO Culted; and Wilson Oryema, artist and writer, co-founder of the Surface Tension platform and research director at Austron Research.
The initiative was created by Ekman Group and organized with the Swedish Fashion Council so that the different stakeholders of the MMCFs supply chain can meet, connect, and discuss topics and issues important for the industry’s continuous development and growth.
“When we first started CTF back in 2018, we felt that there was a disconnect and lack of communication between different stakeholders in the supply chain of MMCFs,” Elmersson said. “With Ekman Group being one of the largest independent trading houses within the forestry sector, we recognized that we were in a good position to use our network to create a forum or platform to bring together the different stakeholders to bridge this gap. Partnering with the Swedish Fashion Council allowed us to connect with brands and truly bring in all relevant stakeholders to the discussions.”
