\n\tVarvara \u201cBobby\u201d Diakonenkova has been crowned the winner of Supima\u2019s 2025 Design Competition.<\/p>\n
\n\tOn Wednesday night, the Tempe, Ariz.-based nonprofit hosted its latest competition at Lavan Studios in New York City. The event marked the debut of a new format merging the annual Supima Design Competition (SDC) and Supima Design Lab (SDL).<\/p>\n
![\"Varvara](\"https:\/\/sourcingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SUPw_151-3823.jpg?w=1024\")
\n\t\u201cConsolidating our annual programming formats into the SDL allows us to celebrate emerging creativity on a global scale and to include many designers who are showing in New York for the very first time,\u201d said Buxton Midyette, vice president of marketing and promotions at Supima. \u201cWhile our roots remain in supporting the next generation of American design talent, we\u2019re now bringing them into a larger conversation alongside international peers, creating an exchange of ideas that feels fresh, dynamic and inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHosted by English TV personality and photographer Nigel Barker, the evening highlighted work from SDC finalists nominated by top U.S. design schools: Diakonenkova of Drexel University; Isabel Weiss, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Caroline Hill, Kent State University; Griselda Pe\u00f1a Candelario, the Pratt Institute, and Emma Gonzalez Pini, Parsons School of Design, The New School.<\/p>\n
\n\tDuring the cocktail reception, the five student finalists debuted their eveningwear capsule collections crafted from premium Supima cotton fabrics, created through a months-long mentorship program led by Bibhu Mohapatra, an alum of the Fashion Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n
![\"2025](\"https:\/\/sourcingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SUPw_128-3053.jpg?w=1024\")
\n\tFollowing a review by a panel of industry judges \u2014 including beauty and style correspondent Evan Hirsch and WWD news director Lisa Lockwood \u2014 Mohapatra and Midyette joined Nigel Barker on stage to announce Diakonenkova as the winner. She received a $10,000 cash prize.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI couldn\u2019t have done [this] without my team,\u201d Diakonenkova said during her acceptance speech. \u201cFrom construction and patternmaking to laser cutting and fabric treatments, every detail was a collective effort. I also want to thank Supima and the new friends I\u2019ve made along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Russian-American designer\u2019s 2025 SDC collection, \u201cScarred by Wires,\u201d examined the legacy of Soviet repression and the resilience of cultural identity.<\/p>\n
\n\tDrawing from traditional Russian costumes, communist propaganda and industrial materials like barbed wire and cement, the collection \u201cexplored generational trauma through tactile manipulation of Supima cotton,\u201d according to the designer.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI knew in my head that [my team and I] did everything we could to present the strongest collection possible,\u201d Diakonenkova said. \u201cI\u2019m proud that I was able to share my message about my country and what we\u2019re going through \u2014 and that I could express hope. I have hope in fashion, in feminism, in politics. We can make this world better.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLaunched in 2008 as a local competition, the SDC expanded to Paris Fashion Week in 2015 and it evolved again in 2018 with the launch of the SDL, created in partnership with the Festival d\u2019Hy\u00e8res in the south of France \u2014 recognized as the world\u2019s oldest fashion competition for emerging designers.<\/p>\n \n\tThe 2025 Festival d\u2019Hy\u00e8res finalists included Noah Almonte (Switzerland), Layla Al Tawaya (Poland), Lucas Emilio Brunner (Switzerland\/Chile), Idaliina Friman (Finland), Xinyi He (China), Sofia Hermens Fernandez (Germany\/Spain), Adrien Michel (France), Dennis Sanders (Germany), Vanessa Schreiner (Austria) and Youssef Zogheib (Lebanon).<\/p>\n \n\tThis year\u2019s featured international designers were Bianca Saunders (U.K.), Charles de Vilmorin (France), AFEW Rahul Mishra (U.K.), Torish\u00e9ju (U.K.) and Vautrait (France).<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBy merging celebrated initiatives, Supima is ushering in a new era for its designer programs \u2014 one that honors its legacy while expanding its reach,\u201d the organization said. \u201cThe Supima Design Lab 2025 promises to be a landmark event, uniting American-grown luxury cotton with the world\u2019s most exciting up-and-coming voices in fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Varvara \u201cBobby\u201d Diakonenkova has been crowned the winner of Supima\u2019s 2025 Design Competition. On Wednesday night, the Tempe, Ariz.-based nonprofit hosted its latest competition at Lavan Studios in New York City. The event marked the debut of a new format merging the annual Supima Design Competition (SDC) and Supima Design Lab (SDL). Varvara \u201cBobby\u201d Diakonenkova \u201cConsolidating our annual programming formats into the SDL allows us to celebrate emerging creativity on a global scale and to include many designers who are showing in New York for the very first time,\u201d said Buxton Midyette, vice president of marketing and promotions at Supima. \u201cWhile our roots remain in supporting the next generation of American design talent, we\u2019re now bringing them into a larger conversation alongside international peers, creating an exchange of ideas that feels fresh, dynamic and inspiring.\u201d Hosted by English TV personality and photographer Nigel Barker, the evening highlighted work from SDC finalists nominated by top U.S. design schools: Diakonenkova of Drexel University; Isabel Weiss, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Caroline Hill, Kent State University; Griselda Pe\u00f1a Candelario, the Pratt Institute, and Emma Gonzalez Pini, Parsons School of Design, The New School. During the cocktail reception, the five student finalists debuted their eveningwear capsule collections crafted from premium Supima cotton fabrics, created through a months-long mentorship program led by Bibhu Mohapatra, an alum of the Fashion Institute of Technology. 2025 SDC finalists with Nigel Barker and Buxton Midyette. Following a review by a panel of industry judges \u2014 including beauty and style correspondent Evan Hirsch and WWD news director Lisa Lockwood \u2014 Mohapatra and Midyette joined Nigel Barker on stage to announce Diakonenkova as the winner. She received a $10,000 cash prize. \u201cI couldn\u2019t have done [this] without my team,\u201d Diakonenkova said during her acceptance speech. \u201cFrom construction and patternma…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Varvara](\"https:\/\/sourcingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SUPw_219-2677.jpg?w=1024\")