Created in partnership between Burberry and Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF), a UAL research centre based at London College of Fashion (LCF), the Reimagining Materials Competition presented a unique opportunity for students to develop creative ways to use Burberry's surplus materials.
BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Development student Clara Gröning was recently announced the winner of the competition and awarded a cash prize and a 3-month internship at Burberry. Clara’s winning piece, as well as nine selected finalists’ work, was also recently featured in an exhibition in April in the Wolfson Studio at LCF’s East Bank campus.
We caught up with Clara to hear more about her winning project and circular concept underpinning her design.
I heard about the CSF x Burberry Reimagining Materials Competition through the YOUR.LCF, the LCF student newsletter, back in September. Although I wasn’t planning to enter competitions during my final year, my interest peaked after reading the information. I really liked the concept and intention behind the competition, and I have always liked Burberry.
To enter the competition, I submitted a short manifesto, personal profile and design concept, including some optional sketches and visualisations. 20 students were shortlisted based on these entries, and we each received a bag of Burberry excess materials to make our prototype. It was quite unpredictable what you would be given, and everyone got slightly different amounts of certain fabrics, so everyone had to adjust their design based on what they had received.
During this stage, we were also given the opportunity to visit Burberry HQ and received an excellent presentation on their heritage and house codes. This really helped, and I actually adjusted my design from an idea I got during that presentation. Towards the end of December, we revisited Burberry HQ for our first meeting with the judges. The final deadline was a little under three weeks away, so this first meeting was to show the Toiles we had been working on and briefly explain our idea to receive feedback. This was very nerve-wracking, but extremely valuable!
Submission rolled around in December. I’m still amazed that I was even able to complete my design, because I decided to make not one, but two garments, plus having various course deadlines. I was finally told I had won the competition in January – waiting for the outcome put me more on edge than submitting my project!
I think every designer or artist can relate to imposter syndrome. I believe it is something inherent to creative jobs and hobbies. Fashion is very subjective, and it’s difficult to receive objective feedback, so you often end up doubting your work. Plus, the fashion industry, including university, is incredibly competitive. Therefore, my work being recognised by such an iconic fashion house feels incredibly validating and gratifying.
Burberry to me is very synonymous with “heritage”. I have always been fascinated by brands with strong visual brand language and company code, because it is an interesting challenge to adhere to this, while still reinventing yourself. Additionally, Burberry always reminds me of my father. He is a big fan and over the years has suggested several times that I should work at Burberry, so I guess it was fate.
Usually, I would start any project by finding inspiration and gathering information and imagery to develop a concept and design, (that’s a very abridged summary of my creative process), but when I read through the brief for this competition, it stood out to me that the main objective was solving the challenge of how to use the materials. In particular, to design something aesthetic, using excess, while in alignment with house codes and heritage fabrics.
My proposed solution was taking the offcuts, chopping them up, arranging them and fixing them in place with stitching, creating a new piece of fabric that then can be used for production.
After testing my idea and ensuring it was viable, I started focusing on creating designs that implemented this method. I looked at Burberry’s history, heritage, iconic shapes, colours, and brand symbols for inspiration and tried combining that with my own style, thinking about things I would like to wear or purchase. I created a small range plan to showcase the possibilities and versatility of my idea.
After being shortlisted, it was a matter of applying my method to the Burberry surplus materials we were given. My two final prototypes were out of several designs I came up with, including coats, jackets, dresses, skirts, handbags and even a cardholder.
The possibilities of my proposed solution are endless and negate the problems offcuts usually pose, such as size, irregularity, grain, and pattern. My prototype also avoids the problem of having leftover fabrics with specified seasonal aged-out prints, as these won’t be noticeable in the final product. You can create something entirely new every time, whether on a large or small scale. It will always be interesting, new, and unique. If any offcuts are generated during making, these can be chopped up and fed back into the process, making this idea circular. The purpose of my final prototypes was to demonstrate this idea. This method can be used in many ways across all product groups, making it a viable permanent “solution” rather than a fun one-time product.
Sustainability plays a big part in my practice. I would like to be able to continue doing what I love doing - which is designing and creating clothes - today, tomorrow, next year and in ten years from now and I would like to do so with a clear conscience, knowing that rather than creating more problems I’m actively helping solve them.
BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Development perfectly prepared me for this. Our course is incredibly successful at teaching industry skills while maintaining a creative environment where you have the freedom to be as experimental, weird, conceptual, minimalistic or commercial as you please. This course helps you find, explore, and elevate your personal style, rather than dictating a course-specific aesthetic.
Additionally, I spoke to many of my tutors before submitting my entry, who gave me feedback on how to pitch and explain my idea in an engaging way. My tutors also functioned as great moral support and were all super excited for me when I got shortlisted and eventually won, which was really sweet.
I learned a great deal of new techniques during this competition.
Competitions are a great excuse to spend a lot of time researching and trying new things, which is one of the reasons I enjoy doing them. Even if I hadn’t won, I still would have walked away with valuable experience and new skills.
I am most looking forward to learning how a fashion company on that scale functions, and how I as a designer will fit into that. I know what it’s like to be a one-woman show and manage everything from designing to production, to marketing myself. However, I haven’t experienced working at a large, international fashion house, so I am excited to explore how it differs from my previous experiences.