COTTON USA backs future industry leaders as university partnership draws to a close

June 2017, London – COTTON USA is pleased to announce the successful close to its first Innovation Competition in the UK, in partnership with the world-renowned textiles innovation and design school at Loughborough University. The COTTON USA Innovation Competition was designed to give students a real-world industry brief to excite and inspire, and provide the opportunity to work innovatively with high-quality U.S. cotton fabrics.

Running in partnership with the esteemed university’s Textiles: Innovation and Design programme, which was recently rated the leading university for Fashion and Textiles in The Guardian University Guide 2018 for the third time in four years, the competition worked with second year students who specialised in both textiles and fabrics.

The competition gave them guidance on how to develop new and innovative ways of working with U.S. cotton, while encouraging them to be as creative as possible within an allocated budget. After six weeks of exemplary work, COTTON USA is proud to announce that the winner of the Innovation Competition is Lucy Dennis, and the three runners-up are Emily Brennan, Alice Charter and Sophie Tresadern.

The winning submissions were judged and announced by a panel of experts from COTTON USA and Loughborough University at a dedicated special ceremony. In addition to the support provided by COTTON USA throughout the competition, it will continue to work with the winner and runners-up to promote their talents to a network of professionals across the industry. The competition has given all participants a number of opportunities to demonstrate their technical knowledge, while also elevating the profile of their creative designs.

Stephanie Thiers-Ratcliffe, International Marketing Manager for COTTON USA, commented: “The students and team at Loughborough University have been the perfect partners for our first COTTON USA Innovation Competition in the UK. The talent we’ve seen has been enormously impressive, and more than lived up to the high standards the textiles department produces year after year. The level of talent and passion shown by students at the school has been a pleasure to witness throughout the initiative. COTTON USA is thrilled that we have been able to provide a platform for the students’ work and we are so pleased to be able to announce the winner and runners-up.”

“Helping students to enhance their unique and individual abilities by working with high-quality fibres, such as U.S. cotton, has been at the heart of this competition, and COTTON USA is so glad to provide the future of the industry with an opportunity to work with such a versatile and trustworthy material.”

Kerry Walton, Programme Director of Textiles: Innovation and Design at Loughborough University said: “We are delighted to have worked with COTTON USA on the Innovation Competition. We’re committed to providing our students with the right opportunities to help them thrive, and outstanding, relevant insight into the world of contemporary textiles. This competition has done exactly that.”

“Working with U.S. cotton has given students the opportunity to develop vital skills for the future and learn first-hand how integral quality materials are to innovative designs,” she added.

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching and strong links with industry. It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, putting it among the best universities in the world.