Fungi, the collection created by Sulimovich and Gómez De Salazar—bothgraduates of theFashion Design program at Universidad ORT Uruguaywas the big winner of the night: in addition to the jury’s first prize, they received the audience award, with 40% of the votes.
They received two tickets to the Netherlands, as well as accommodation to present their collection at FashionClash in Maastricht, a prestigious international event that combines fashion, art, and design. In addition, they received $1,500, a photo shoot for Galería Magazine, consulting services from the Sinergia Design project incubator, and a workspace at their offices.
The Lumina jury consisted of Gustavo Lento Navarro—an Argentine designer and design professor specializing in apparel and textile design—, Margo Baridón—who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management and Administration and in Fashion Design from Universidad ORT Uruguay, Agustín Menini—an industrial designer and director of the Menini Nicola studio—, Camila Ferrés—a fashion designer from IED Madrid—and Ana Darracq—a senior student in the Fashion Design program at Universidad ORT Uruguay, who received a special mention at Lumina 10—.
“We questioned the way we live today and decided to highlight the loss of the sense of touch in favor of screens,” the designers explained. “That’s why we chose to give our collection a strong sensory focus using textures that work on both two-dimensional and three-dimensional planes. To achieve this, we applied beaded embroidery over digital prints.”
The aesthetic inspiration came from the fungal kingdom: mushrooms, lichen, and mold. “We explored the relationships between different material qualities: the shiny, the hairy, and the textured. The duality of smoothness and texture.”
From a morphological perspective, they sought to represent mushrooms through organic shapes. “In terms of construction, we used panels, pleats, and ruffles to create volume. The seams between the panels were fastened with button-and-loop closures. We proposed a fitted silhouette with an emphasis on the waist and volume in the upper half. We sought to represent women’s empowerment and thus represent our target audience.”
Regarding the garment production process, they acknowledged that it was very labor-intensive and involved several stages: some garments were made entirely by hand and took two months to complete. “We wanted to position ourselves somewhere between haute couture and ready-to-wear. To combine technology—such as laser cutting and digital printing—with traditional techniques like embroidery.”
Vivian and Florencia spent their final year of college together, and although neither had ever worked before, they both saw a lot of talent and potential in each other. “We have very different backgrounds, but we’re both very demanding, and we’re united by our passion for design.”
“The competition was an unforgettable experience; we had the chance to bring our ideas to life and validate our work,” they said. “We were able to build a fantastic network and meet some very talented professionals. It was definitely a dream come true.”
#Lumina11 kicks off its #fashionshow with "FUNGI," by Vivian Sulimovich and Florencia Gómez, a collection featuring natural and synthetic fabrics pic.twitter.com/NOwAyaXXfh
— Punta Carretas (@PuntaCarretas) April 27, 2017
Congratulations to everyone! It was an incredible #Lumina11! pic.twitter.com/EXJCUAgolf
— Punta Carretas (@PuntaCarretas) April 28, 2017