Shannon Daniell, a Fashion and Textile design student from South
Africa, has been named the top new creative talent in the world at the
grand final of the Society of Dyers and Colourists’ (SDC) annual
International Design Competition at a prestigious awards evening held in
Hong Kong on 2 December 2011. The competition is sponsored by Clariant.
This makes an incredible three wins in a row for the Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan University, as Shannon’s success follows that of Moipone
Qekisi in 2009 and Laduma Ngxokolo in 2010. Last year’s winner Laduma
Ngxokola has since gone on to great success, launching MaXhosa, his own
knitwear company.
Shannon, aged 22, was chosen over ten other finalists representing
Australia, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand,
Bangladesh, USA and the UK. All entries had to show evidence of using
colour as an integral component of the design process as well as
incorporating some aspect of this year’s theme of ‘reduce, recycle,
reuse’. It was felt that Shannon’s work, entitled ‘Beautifully
Bleeding’, showed a real understanding of the brief as well as an
innovative use of colour in the expression of her designs.
Shannon
was inspired by reading about Ithemba Eliphilisayo (which means ‘The
Hope that Heals’), a local organisation that works with AIDS orphans.
Keen to help, she used old cotton sheets and towels donated by a local
hotel to create a poncho that can easily convert into a warm blanket,
with the addition of recycled newspaper stuffed into the pockets. The
end product is intended for AIDS orphans.
Shannon chose green/blue colours fading into yellow and orange to
represent rebirth and the renewal of life. The colours are decorative
and lively, but also represent healing. In addition to a useful, low
cost end product using recycled materials, Shannon’s intention is that
this is also a rehabilitation project for prisoners, teaching them the
basics of sewing and tie dyeing.
Shannon goes back to South Africa with the SDC Colour Design Award
2011, £1,000 cash and the Veronica Bell trophy. The trophy is in honour
of the late Dr Veronica Bell, (an SDC past-president) to acknowledge
excellence in the field of colour and design.
Shannon commented: “This is an overwhelming, amazing experience for
me and I’m flabbergasted to win. This project is my passion and my
inspiration and I’m going to use the prize to progress my studies, and
also to progress the project. I think this project could be global and I
hope that this is only the beginning. I am extremely grateful that SDC
has given me this grand opportunity, which is already such an
adventure”.
Second place went to Afsana Wormey, aged 21 from BGMEA Institute of
Fashion and Technology in Bangladesh, who impressed judges with her
submission entitled ‘The Power of Simple Thinking’. Third place was
awarded to Asiima Mawudoku, aged 23 from London Metropolitan University
in the UK with her entry entitled ‘Precious Earth’.
The competition, which is sponsored by Clariant, a world leader in
the field of specialty chemicals, is open to undergraduates registered
on fashion/textile design courses. Keith Parton from Clariant commented:
“Our products enhance every aspect of modern life by providing colour
and a vast array of functional effects. It is therefore a great honour
to sponsor SDC’s International Design Competition which encourages the
creative use of colour in fashion and textile design. The competition
has shown over the years that it offers an incredible experience to the
students, and acts as a great springboard into the industry. We
congratulate Shannon and wish all the students the very best of luck in
the future”.
The competition judges were Geeta Castelino, a consultant, fashion
journalist and education specialist from India, Dr Kinor Jiang,
Associate Professor, Institute of Textiles and Clothing at Hong Kong
Polytechnic University, and Chris Sargeant, Vice-Chair of the SDC Board
of Trustees.
Comments Andrew Filarowski, Acting Chief Executive of SDC: “At SDC we
work hard with educational institutions across the world to ensure that
the next generation of fashion, textile and design students has a clear
understanding of colour. It is always exciting to see the competition
entries and this year the standard has been incredibly high. All the
finalists have worked incredibly hard and on behalf of SDC, I would like
to congratulate them all on such innovative and creative designs.”
As the leading educational charity dedicated to advancing the science
of colour worldwide, the UK-based SDC encourages the creative use of
colour in fashion and textile design and is a committed supporter of up
and coming young designers.
Top photograph: The three top prize winners with the rest of the finalists and ML Cheung, President of SDC
Middle photograph: Shannon Daniell demonstrating her winning entry.
More photographs are available on request.
