Society of Dyers and Colourists

Shannon Daniell, a Fashion and Textile design student from South Africa is the winner of the SDC International Design Competition 2011. The announcement was made at a prestigious awards evening in Hong Kong, held as part of ‘Reduce, Recycle, Reuse’. Shannon was presented with a cheque for £1,000 and the Veronica Bell trophy. Shannon, aged 22 is a student at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and was chosen over 10 other finalists representing Australia/New Zealand, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Pakistan, Singapore, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Africa, the UK and the USA. The competition is sponsored by Clariant.

Shannon was inspired by reading about Ithemba Eliphilisayo (which means ‘The Hope that Heals’), a local organisation that works with AIDS orphans. Keen to help, she used old cotton sheets and towels donated by a local hotel to create a poncho that can easily convert into a warm blanket, with the addition of recycled newspaper stuffed into the pockets. The end product is intended for AIDS orphans.

Shannon commented: “This is an overwhelming, amazing experience for me and I’m flabbergasted to win. This project is my passion and my inspiration and I’m going to use the prize money to progress my studies, and also to progress the project. I think this project could be global and I hope that this is only the beginning. I am extremely grateful that SDC has given me this grand opportunity, which is already such an adventure”.

Second place went to Afsana Wormey, aged 21 from BGMEA Institute of Fashion and Technology in Bangladesh, who impressed judges with her submission entitled ‘The Power of Simple Thinking’. Third place was awarded to Asiima Mawudoku, aged 23 from London Metropolitan University in the UK with her entry entitled ‘Precious Earth’ Shannon’s success makes it an incredible three wins in a row for Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

Please take a look at the photos on our facebook page and look out for a full report in the next issue of The Colourist and on our website.