Leather designs go digital through Real Leather Stay Different partnership
The UK-based Institute of Digital Fashion is teaming up with the Real Leather Stay Different International Student Design Competition (RLSD) 2022 to help the next generation of designers “better understand the future of digital design while raising awareness of responsibly sourced leather”.
The competition is open to students studying art and design or those who have graduated within the last two years. It runs alongside regional competitions in Italy, China, the UK and Taiwan.
As part of the partnership, IoDF will host a digital fashion workshop on June 15, open to fashion students globally.
IoDF co-founders Leanne Elliott Young and Cat Taylor (Cattytay) (pictured) will be part of the judging panel of the RLSD ‘22 global final, which takes place in London on September 15.
Cattytay said: “It was important to partner with RLSD on this project to support and encourage the younger generation to utilise digital as a tool for pushing sustainability solutions across their work.”
As part of the prize package, IoDF will also create a digital asset of the apparel category winner’s work, enabling the design to come to life through an AR try-on (augmented reality) that can be experienced digitally.
Steve Sothmann, president of competition organiser Leather and Hide Council of America, said: “The competition's mission is to spark the interest of young designers to work with responsibly produced real leather which puts hides that otherwise go to landfill, to good use. Too many of our fashion choices end up in landfill, creating an unwanted legacy from today’s society that will damage the environment for centuries.
“Working with IoDF gives us the opportunity to empower the next generation with digital skills that reduce waste in the design process.”
