IoDF to officially partner with Real Leather. Stay Different. International Student Design Competition 2022:
Educating the Next Generation of Creatives by Re-Shaping our Fashion Futures.

Institute of Digital Fashion (IoDF) is excited to announce their official partnership with Real Leather. Stay Different. International Student Design Competition 2022 (RLSD ‘22), bringing education into the future with digital skills.

IoDF has a strong ethos of supporting the makers of our next generation with an aim to re-build, re-educate and re-position the industry’s thinking into a new vernacular with innovation at the core. The project partnership with Real Leather. Stay Different. brings to the forefront a common set of values to support emerging creatives through education.

As part of the partnership, IoDF will host a digital fashion workshop. The public workshop, which takes place on 15th June, is open to fashion students globally. It will give them the opportunity to better understand the future of digital design, its sustainability benefits and how metaverse innovations can be implemented within their creative practices to further reduce waste. Ultimately raising awareness of responsibly sourced leather as a natural material in the process.

In addition, IoDF co-founders, Leanne and Cattytay will be part of the judging panel of this year’s RLSD ‘22 global final, which takes place in London on 15th September. As part of the prize package, IoDF will also create a digital asset of the apparel category winner’s work - enabling the design to come to life through an innovative AR try-on that can be experienced digitally.

IoDF’s official partnership with Real Leather. Stay Different. sparks an integral shift happening in the industry: the need to bring wider inclusive and sustainable methods to high fashion and leather goods while educating the younger generation on the importance of digital futures and how the industry can develop sustainable solutions.

The competition is open to students studying art and design or those who have graduated from art and design higher education within the last two years. The Real Leather. Stay Different. International Student Design Competition 2022 is run in partnership with ArtsThread, with a core mission to encourage a new generation of designers to reconsider their relationship with leather and other natural materials to create stunning designs where longevity and minimal environmental impact is key.

RLSD ‘22 competition participants will be challenged to design a single piece of clothing (*min 50% leather), footwear or accessory. Shortlisted finalists will be invited to present their design concept to the judges during a live showcase final, with an all-expenses paid trip to London, during Fashion Week in September.

IoDF Co-Founders, Leanne Elliott Young and Cattytay will be joining the judging panel at the RLSD ‘22 global final on 15th September 2022, alongside industry leads including; Christopher Koerber, Managing Director of HUGO BOSS Ticino, Rosie Wollacott Phillips, Group Sustainability Manager of Mulberry, celebrity fashion stylist, Mike Adler and the 2021 winner, and FIT NYC graduate, Emily Omesi.

As part of the prize for making the global final, finalists will have their design professionally made to present to the judges. The competition is now live, with entries being accepted until 30th June: www.artsthread.com/competitions/international-student-design-competition-2022/

KEY ASSET:

IoDF x Real Leather. Stay Different animation

QUOTES FROM INSTITUTE OF DIGITAL FASHION

“Pushing technology as a solution to not just sell more clothes, but to disrupt the way the system concepts, produces, creates and educates is core to the work we deliver at IoDF. Teaching these 3D making skills are integral, our work is rooted deeply in creating an opportunity for further social discourse on fashions futures and supporting in democratising digital especially towards the talent of the future. Working with Real Leather, Stay Different on this project has brought to light the importance of education and making digital fashion more accessible.” - Leanne Elliott Young, IoDF Co-Founder & CEO

“With digital artisan, an asset can reach out to millions around the globe at once. It helps to generate a new form of emotional connectivity, creating a higher quality product that holds both physical and digital layering. It was important to us at IoDF to partner with RLSD on this project to support and encourage the younger generation to utilise digital as a tool for pushing sustainability solutions across their work.” - Cattytay, IoDF Co-Founder & Creative Director

QUOTE FROM REAL LEATHER. STAY DIFFERENT.

“The competition's mission is to spark the interest of young designers to work with responsibly produced real leather which puts hides that otherwise go to landfill, to good use. Too many of our fashion choices end up in landfill, creating an unwanted legacy from today’s society that will damage the environment for centuries. Working with IoDF gives us the opportunity to empower the next generation with digital skills that reduce waste in the design process.” - Steve Sothmann, on behalf of Real Leather. Stay Different.

ABOUT REAL LEATHER. STAY DIFFERENT.

Real Leather. Stay Different. is a global campaign that has reached some 750 million people and hundreds of thousands of students. It makes the case for cattle leather (and other natural materials) and for making the best use of society’s waste and that hides, as the by-product of the dairy and meat industries, should be considered before looking to the petrochemical industries for manmade materials. Flexible and durable, leather is the natural alternative to fast fashion.

The annual International Student Design Competition runs alongside regional competitions in Italy, China, the UK and Taiwan that began in 2019. This year will see the inclusion of the Nordic region. These competitions are run by Real Leather. Stay Different. on behalf of the Leather & Hide Council of America [L&HCA]. US Leather accounts for more than 10% of all hides used globally each year. As such, L&HCA recognises its role and responsibility in promoting leather to a broad audience and in working with the industry around the world to ensure best practice and a sustainable future. For more information on the competition, please visit www.chooserealleather.com/international-competition/.

ABOUT INSTITUTE OF DIGITAL FASHION

Institute of Digital Fashion [IoDF]: An emblem for change, creating the new vocabulary for fashions metaverse futures. Providing world-class immersive digital solutions, strategies and innovations, IoDF are pushing for a more inclusive, sustainable and diverse IRL x URL reality. Through AR, VR, UX, NFTs, digital try-ons, research papers and metaverse consultancy, IoDF delivers innovations that take the industry beyond its comfort zones, building 360 world solutions.

Holding 6 Industry Firsts, IoDF are noted as the global leaders in digital fabrication, IRL x URL experiences, clothing, avatar, environments, diverse digital representation and immersive VR AR and WebXR. Born to push tech-use toward a more democratic and sustainable future, IoDF offers a platform and manifesto to restructure how technology and digital are used from creation to consumer. Via education, activations and discourse, IoDF’s work is moving the industry beyond its hierarchical traditions.