Filippa Fuxe Wins First Prize in International Design Competition with Innovative Concept

Designer and Beckmans student Filippa Fuxe, 24, who is soon completing her first year in the Fashion Program at Beckmans College of Design, has won the first prize of 150,000 SEK in the Danish-owned company Selfmade/Stoff & Stil's international competition.

She receives the award for her innovative design that allows consumers and wearers to become their own designers.

"It feels amazingly honoring and fun to have won this design competition. This means a lot to me!" says Filippa Fuxe.

During the autumn of 2020, Selfmade/Stoff & Stil invited students from design schools across Europe to submit sketches of an innovative design idea. The competition was divided into several phases spanning four months, where shortlisted participants got to sew their visualized designs and ultimately present their concept to the team in Herning, Denmark.

Design focused on innovation and sustainability

For the competition, Filippa developed a product where color, shape, and function can be varied and combined based on individual needs—allowing it to shift identity and be updated over time.

"In my design, I often strive for the opportunity to renew, change, and vary a garment, representing a modern way of looking at fashion design and clothing consumption where both innovation and sustainability are in focus."

She drew inspiration from cyclic processes around us, such as the phases of the moon—how it moves through different positions but always returns to the same state.

"In our eyes, the moon changes its shape and expression over time, creating a cycle just like circular fashion. In the same way, my dress can be continuously renewed, reused, and reinvented, thereby gaining a longer lifespan."

Garments that let consumers experiment and use their own creativity

The dress she designed is built from interchangeable parts joined by button plackets. The parts can be removed and swapped out to create cut-out sections and combine colors and materials to convey new visual expressions.

"It is also possible to sew new variations of the detachable parts to easily replace one that has worn out. Consumers can experiment with the different pieces, using their creativity, style, and expression to become their own engineer and designer of the garment," Filippa explains.

Her pattern will be released in stores in spring 2022

Together with Selfmade/Stoff & Stil's design team in Herning, Filippa will now develop a commercial pattern for her design. In the spring of 2022, the pattern will be released in stores alongside the company's international lookbook.

Selfmade/Stoff & Stil's design competition will return next year, giving new design talent the opportunity to participate.

"Selfmade's design competition is primarily a celebration of creativity. Selfmade's vision is that creativity must be nurtured throughout life. Being creative isn't just about designing, drawing, or sewing; it's about approaching challenges with fresh eyes. The global community will need this in the future, which is why we hold a design competition for students from European design schools to celebrate and cultivate creativity and diversity in innovation," says Alexander Lerche, CEO of Selfmade.