There is no future without creativity. There is no creativity without innovation. Therefore, the fourth edition of the World Leather Congress also featured for the first time a competition for emerging designers. Students from the Parsons School of Design participated. Voting for their prototypes took place during the event held yesterday at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York, while the awarding of the winner concluded the day.
The competition
The students participating were 10 and were all engaged in a course of study in Fashion Design that has only one goal: to develop accessories that break the rules through their creative lens. They have to be, in short, disruptive. The use of leather, thanks to its natural versatility, has become their innovative challenge. A challenge that they were able to face thanks to the support of Lineapelle, which made materials available and carried out some workshops. The goal was the same as that of the World Leather Congress: to demonstrate the daily modernity of leather. That is: Leather in Everyday Life. Award: a trip to Milan in October (2-4) 2019, to visit Lineapelle’s stands.
The winner
The jury had no doubts. The best project presented at WLC4 was that of Ari Duhaney. This is a collection of leather goods that develops vegetable leather through an innovative idea of carving. The result is a fascinating “game” of three-dimensionality and volumes. Ari Duhaney “is an emerging designer, newly graduated from Parsons – explain WLC. She will release her first collection next September with the brand, ARI500, which is committed to providing eco-compatible luxury leather goods with the intention of revolutionising the way consumers perceive and control their ecological impact”. ARI500 is based in New York City.
