The Mills Fabrica’s ongoing commitment to supporting the next generation of innovators for the techstyle industry

Now in our third year of supporting some of the best and brightest talent emerging from the world-renowned arts and design college, Central Saint Martins, we are excited to announce the 2020 winners of The Mills Fabrica’s Techstyle and Sustainability prizes.

2020 has been a year of uncertainty, and amidst the current crisis, The Mills Fabrica remains committed to nurturing future innovators by celebrating and awarding students for their extraordinary talents and supporting them in developing their innovations further. As in previous years, the two winners of the prizes will be taking a three-month residency at The Mills Fabrica in Hong Kong to further develop their projects with access to our coworking space and Fabrica Lab, receive a cash prize and get connected to our network and community.

“We are so pleased that The Mills Fabrica have again chosen to support our graduating students through The Mills Fabrica Techstyle and Sustainability Prizes.

Opportunities like this are extremely significant to our students and not only do they provide financial reward and the opportunity to undertake a residency at The Mills Fabrica, they recognise their ambition, courage and creativity. These awards signal our shared vision of a collaboration across the globe that innovates and pushes the boundaries of sustainability in the design sector.

We appreciate and value The Mills Fabrica’s support and commitment to Central Saint Martins and our students, which is especially critical during a time of global crisis, as it will be graduates like these who help us understand and design our way through to a better future.”

– Rachel Dickson, Dean of Academic Programmes, Central Saint Martins

Announcing the winners

The winning projects were carefully hand-picked by The Mills Fabrica and Central Saint Martins based on their academic merit in material innovation and sustainability within the technology and lifestyle industry.

Winner of The Mills Fabrica Techstyle Prize: Sorawut Kittibanthorn

This year we are delighted to award for the first time an exciting project that has applications to the food industry. Sorawut’s ‘A Lighter Delicacy’ project proposes an alternative way to manage feather waste from slaughterhouses by converting its nutrient composition into a new edible product. Chemically, chicken feathers are composed of approximately 91% protein (keratin) which contains up to eight types of essential amino acids that we require as part of a healthy diet. The food from chicken by product intends to replicate food quality found in high quality food in order to wipe out the stigma image that is associated with its original source.

“With the help of The Mills Fabrica, my ambition is to build a community that would expand the trust and amplify the voice of the issue to get wider acceptance and present edible feathers as a viable means to introduce ‘A Lighter Delicacy’. Developing my cross-disciplinary project in HK is also a great opportunity to meet The Mills Fabrica’s industry partners who might inspire and give project contributions with their advanced technologies and expertise.”

– Sorawut Kittibanthorn, MA Material Futures

(Instagram: @gunnkittibanthorn)

Winner of The Mills Fabrica Sustainability Prize: Scarlett Yang

Scarlett Yang has developed a biodegradable textile made with algae extracts and silk cocoon protein with 3D simulations on the decomposition process. The collection describes a simulated circular living system, where clothing and styles grow, decompose and shape-change throughout time and changing environment. Within the narratives, fashion garments live and breathe like humans then evolve into its digital entity from its physical material body. Joining both bio design and digital/generative technology together, the cross-disciplinary project speculates fashion textiles as a concept of designing lifecycles, suggesting a biodegradable and virtual solution for our current environmental emergencies.

“I am really glad to be receiving the prize and I hope to continue exploring on my virtual/ material design practice during the residency at The Mills Fabrica, to contribute to positive social changes in and beyond the fashion tech industry.”

– Scarlett Yang, BA Womenswear

(Website: http://scarletty.com / Instagram: @scarlettyang_)

Our hope for the students

“We are delighted to be supporting two more talented students from Central Saint Martins with residency at The Mills Fabrica in Hong Kong which will help them in pursuing their dreams and providing them with the space, network and endless opportunities to further develop their innovative projects. Through our partnership with Central Saint Martins, The Mills Fabrica remains committed to working together in creating a better and brighter future for the techstyle industry.”

– Vanessa Cheung, Founder, The Mills & Managing Director, Nan Fung Development Ltd.

We look forward to welcoming Sorawut and Scarlett to The Mills Fabrica and joining them on their journeys. We hope that the residency will give these students the unique opportunity to further develop their innovations and one day build their own businesses or collaborate with industry partners to help them scale.