YKK Fastening Awards is a unique fashion design contest focused around fastening products, such as zippers, hook & loop fasteners, buckles, and snaps & buttons.
The contest is for students enrolled in schools in Japan and comprises the Apparel Category and the Fashion Goods Category.
It has grown into one of Japan’s leading fashion design contests.
Every autumn, 30 works chosen from the entries are released at the fashion show in Tokyo, Japan. The below works are the Grand-Prix of each category, the top of 6,486 entries in the 19th YKK FASTENING AWARDS.
Grand-Prix in Apparel Category
【Title】 3D switch
【Winner】
Yukina Sugiyama,Nagoya MODE GAKUEN
【Used items】
Tack button
LENART®
【Comment on work】
Fastening snaps "switch" the item into a three-dimensional piece. The fastening locations can be easily changed, allowing the wearer to change the shape of the garment. Everyone can enjoy the folds and strange shapes created by a single piece of cloth turned three-dimensional.
【Winner's Voice】
When I saw so many fantastic pieces selected for the fashion show, I didn't have any confidence that I would win an award.
From the time I filled out the entry sheet and drew the original design, I had already decided on the overall shape and pattern, and the items I would use to make the actual entry.
When it came to actually creating the piece, I worked hard on ensuring that the single piece of cloth would become three-dimensional, and that when someone actually wore it, it would become a proper piece of clothing and not just lay flat. I made many prototypes, being very picky about the location of the LENART® snaps and the direction of pleats that suited the material.
I decided to make a piece without zippers, using only LENART® snaps and tack buttons, and then I started thinking about how I could make three-dimensional shapes out of a single piece of cloth.
After graduation I'm planning to work as a pattern maker. I want to first fully master patterns before considering the next step.
Grand-Prix in Fashion Goods Category
【Title】 ORIGAMI “Paper Balloon” BAG
【Winner】
Marino Iwahori,Nagoya MODE GAKUEN
【Used items】
EXCELLA®
QuickFree®
LENART®
Eyelet Washer
PERMEX® Extra Type
【Comment on work】
"An origami bag that's fun to make." We all know origami from our childhoods. This is a charming paper-like bag that is easy and fun to make, decorated with the familiar colors and patterns of an origami balloon. The ingenious use of colors provides a visual and intuitive guide for folding the piece.
【Winner's Voice】
I was not expecting to win the Grand-Prix, and so I was very surprised. A lot of people helped me make this item, which makes me especially happy.
In this piece, a single square piece of fabric is folded along the embroidered lines and transformed into an origami balloon bag. It was very difficult to sew the batting between the squares of fabric while adjusting the volume so that the mechanism would work. I used a sewing machine at my part-time job to do the embroidery. For the color of the embroidery I chose colors that are familiar from childhood and that are used in real origami balloons. The embroidery on the handles shows the order in which you fold the bag. When I first began stitching with the machine, I found it very difficult to get the needle positioned just right, and this took a lot of time.
I received good advice when I was searching for a material that matched the origami theme, and settled on this paper-like, pure white fabric.
When you fold an origami paper balloon, a hole is formed at the bottom that has to be closed if the piece is to function as a bag. I used QuickFree® fasteners to close the hole and to allow the bag to be quickly unfolded into a square shape again. I used the PERMEX® snaps to secure the folds, which are self-supporting in a real origami balloon but need securing when using fabric. Finally, I used LENART® snaps to hold the handles to the fabric when the bag was unfolded flat.
External link
Official Instagram Account
URL: https://www.instagram.com/ykkfa
Account: @ykkfa
The show featured 30 selected pieces from the competition.
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