Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) announced the “SILENT KILLER” collection as a winner of its RECO Young Designer Competition
, the largest upcycling design competition in Thailand. Created by Mr. Settawut Nampunya, the winning designer who received a grand prize of 100,000 baht, this collection was inspired by images of ocean animals entangled in manmade marine trash and reflected the importance of recycling as a significant mean to solve the world’s waste problem. This 8th season of the competition is a part of IVL’s efforts to drive awareness of waste utilization, especially PET plastic, which can be recycled into fibers and resins benefiting various industries as well as sustainably fulfilling the loop of the Circular Economy.
Mrs. Aradhana Lohia Sharma, Vice President at IVL said, “Since 2011, IVL has been hosting the RECO Young Designer Competition, which aims to support and uplift recycling, as well as to promote a mindset of utilizing PET materials responsibly and efficiently. Over the years, we have witnessed many thoughtful initiatives on upcycling through the collections created by our talented young designers. As the Thailand’s largest upcycling design competition, RECO will continue to raise more awareness and understanding of the need to manage waste, which plays a vital role in creating environmental sustainability.”
Ms. Naweensuda Krabuanrat, Assistant Vice President of Corporate Communications at IVL, and one of the RECO 2019’s judges revealed, “Every team joining this year’s competition is very talented. We have been amazed by the great effort and creativity of the contestants over the three months of the competition, from screening more than 200 design pieces to selecting 30 teams, who were given the chance to join our workshops to further develop their work with experts; until we were able to select 10 finalists whose apparel are showcased in the finale fashion show.”
“The most outstanding design that well addressed this year’s theme of RE-WEAR belongs to Mr. Settawut Nampunya with his collection “SILENT KILLER”. The key is his creativity in utilizing discarded materials, such as bag straps, polyester yarns, and DEJATM – IVL’s fiber made of 100% recycled PET plastic with photochromic colors. Also, outfits in this collection can be worn on various occasions: Casual-wear, Cocktail-wear and Catwalk-wear. Importantly, such creative works by young designers demonstrate that recycled materials can be utilized in daily-life products and the Circular Economy is achievable.” Naweensuda added.
Apart from the winner, the competition also rewarded the first runner-up prize of 50,000 baht to Mr. Nitiwat Sakulsriprasert for his “RE-BORNLESS” collection and the second runner-up prize of 30,000 baht to Mr. Pawit Prawat for a collection named “SUPER ULTRA RE WEAR”.
Mr. Settawut Nampunya, the winner of RECO Young Designer 2019 said, “I am so delighted and grateful for IVL’s visionary ambition to raise the issue of making waste valuable. The RECO Young Designer Competition provides good opportunities for us – young designers – to explore new ideas. The “SILENT KILLER” collection portrays the fact that human are killers, intentionally or unintentionally. During design development, I recalled photos of turtles and seals entangled in fishing nets causing their suffering and death, which inspired me to create layers made of recycled yarns as part of this collection. I would like to thank all judges for your thoughtful advice and recognition.”
Mrs. Aradhana Lohia Sharma, Vice President at IVL added, “IVL would like to congratulate all awardees. We believe that the RECO Young Designer Competition is playing its part to drive positive impact through upcycling as well as to raise concern about efficient resource utilization for the world’s sustainability in the long run.”
