A collection by Dutch designer and former Viktor & Rolf intern Anbasja Blanken featured luminescent denim inspired by the sea. So appealing was the winning collection at the Global Denim Awards (GDA) that it stole the spotlight without competition in Amsterdam. The collection was embellished with decadent fringe, laser cut prints, pearls, 3-D floral ornaments and embroidery woven with glow in the dark threads. For the competition, Blanken and ITV took on the challenge to create denim pieces that could light themselves.
The event’s sponsor e3 Cotton awarded Blanken with a prize of €10,000. The collection will be exhibited at Kingpins Shows in New York City and Hong Kong, before returning to Holland for Amsterdam Denim Days 2017.
GDA also honoured India-based Arvind Mill with the Best Fabric Award. The Khadi fabrics used in designer Roosmarijn Koster’s collection of bomber jackets and tracksuits were fully handspun and hand-woven in India. In this, Koster used only two colors: natural cotton and indigo.
