Fabric Designs that will Shape the Future of Exports were Awarded
The 16th International Fabric Design Competition, organized by the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association (İTHİB), was held for the first time this year under the brand ‘Futuretex Istanbul’ as two separate competitions, namely ‘FutureTech’ and ‘FutureBase International’. At Futuretex Istanbul, which was organized to support young talents and bring them to the sector, the finalists among hundreds of participants exhibited their designs at the award night. Designer Tuvana Büyükçınar was the competition coach of the FutureBase category, where designers’ imagination transformed into original fabrics, designer Özlem Süer was the competition coach of the FutureTech category, the innovation and idea competition organized for the first time this year. After the evaluations of the jury, Kemal Özpınar won the first prize and İpekyol Special Award with Troublesome Shine design, Fatemeh Khosravi won the second prize with Space design, İrem Levent won the third prize with Pure Converd of Cynara design, and Zeynep Esra Telli won the Jury Special Award with Kutnu Bridge design in the FutureBase International category. In the Futuretech competition, Elif Tekcan and Melis Baloğlu won first prize with their Öteki Deri project, Janset Öztemur and Semih Özkür won second prize with their Biotexcover project, and Bilge Koyuncu won third prize with their Smart Drysuit project.
‘‘We will move up in the Champions League’’
Stating that design and innovation are of special importance for exports, Mustafa Gültepe, President of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), said: ‘‘Because design adds value to the value of the product. When innovation is added to it, its added value increases even more. When we brand the same product, the price triples-five times. Therefore, we need to focus much more on these issues. I strongly believe in the potential of this country, especially in our young and well-equipped human resources.’’ Emphasizing that Turkey is getting better every year in design, Mustafa Gültepe continued his words as follows: ‘‘Most of the talents coming out of these competitions are designing and preparing collections for our brands today. With their contribution, we have a say on a global scale in ready-to-wear and textiles. We are brand producers in both sectors. Our two sectors have a total export volume of 32-33 billion dollars. I believe that we will talk about 60 billion dollars in the medium term. With our design capacity getting stronger every year, we will carry our country to higher ranks in the champions league of textile and ready-to-wear.’’
‘‘Design Shapes Our Future’’
İTHİB President Ahmet Öksüz commented: ‘‘Futurebase International is the continuation of our fabric design competition. Futuretech is our innovation and idea competition organized for the first time this year for technical textiles. Both competitions are very exciting for us on behalf of our industry.’’
‘‘Turkey will be the True Winner of the Competition’’
Noting that they are the 5th largest exporter in the world, Ahmet Öksüz added, ‘‘However, our closest competitors are the USA and Germany. The USA is the world’s 3rd largest exporter both in the textile sector and in technical textiles. Germany is the world’s 2nd largest technical textile exporter. These countries have never reduced the importance they attach to the textile sector. They only transformed the sector with innovation, design and technical textiles.’’ Reminding that the market size of the technical textile sector, which was 165 billion dollars in 2020, is projected to reach 222 billion dollars in 2025, Ahmet Öksüz continued his statements as follows: ‘‘The countries that invest the most in the technical textile sector are developed economies such as the USA, Germany and South Korea. Our valuable finalists competing here today with beautiful designs and innovative projects will successfully bring products with high design power to the Turkish economy.’’
900 Thousand TL Prize in Total
In the FutureBase International category organized with the themes of sustainability, natural fibers, denim, traditional weavings, the first prize was 200 thousand TL, the second prize was 150 thousand TL and the third prize was 100 thousand TL. All finalists in Futurebase International also had the right to visit Première Vision Paris Exhibition, and the top 3 finalists received 6 months of foreign language education and the right to study at Istanbul Fashion Academy. In addition, the contestant to be determined by the Ministry of Trade among the top three finalists will be given the right to study abroad in a design-related educational institution to be determined by İTHİB. In the FutureTech category organized with the themes of Biotech, Digitalization, NanoTech, Smart Textile, the first prize winner received 200 thousand TL, the second prize winner received 150 thousand TL and the third prize winner received 100 thousand TL
