The talent of the students of the University of Azuay triumphs in Ecuatextil 2023

Four students from the University of Azuay had an outstanding participation in "Ecuatextil", one of the most important textile fairs in the country that took place from March 30 to April 1 in the city of Quito. The fair was attended by companies, national and foreign buyers and traders of raw materials and finished garments.  

Nicole Herrera and Jean Carlos Flores developed the proposal "Don't touch me", and obtained the first three places in several categories: "Best Sublimation", "Best proposal selected in social networks" and "Best design proposal in the exhibition of the phase 7”. Regarding the details of each category, the winners explained some important points.

-In sublimation we were inspired by candies, we extracted shapes from there to connect with the girls and convey the message that they have the courage to achieve everything they set their minds to. The coat is intended to express a show of solidarity against the mistreatment of women, it is a way of connecting with defenders and survivors. Our costume is a timeline that represents both the girl and the adult woman- commented Flores.
Regarding the category "Best proposal selected in social networks", Nicole Herrera gave some details.
-This category was about uploading a reel with the entire creative process such as the assembly of the canvas, so the official page of the contest organization published the reel of all the participants. And through interactions with the public, the winner could be selected in that category- expressed Herrera.

In relation to “Best design proposal in the phase 7 exhibition”, the winners had the following to say. "Once we exhibited our costumes, the public came and could vote for their favorite costume, that's how we won," added Flores.

The preparation of the proposal "Do not touch me" had a period of one month. Likewise, Doménica Mosquera and Paula Cabrera, students from the University of Azuay who also participated in this event and who were part of the five finalists of the Fifth Edition of the Chroma Challenge, commented that their proposal called "Deconstruction" lasted a month from the elaboration from sketching to competition days.

In the same way, there are important aspects that young people capture in their textile projects, such as a culture of respect and equality. -The sublimation of the colors and shapes is part of the expression that we are looking for, the suit is also embodied with graffiti on the inside, because the style that is being sought is urban, it is a reversible coat and inside is the phrase " Don't touch me,” which is a strong way of putting it. The amplitude is to highlight and communicate the respect that we seek with this proposal-said Herrera and Flores.

For their part, Doménica and Paula had another idea that was reflected in the proposal “Deconstruction”. -We decided the deconstruction of formality as our concept, this suit wants to evoke the formality that we knew before the suit as a symbol of elegance, now it is being deconstructed and is being taken over by an open-minded urban culture that young people currently live. We want to give the idea that the generations are opening our thinking and we no longer want the same as before-
commented Cabrera and Mosquera.

The participation of the teachers was important, María Trelles and Silvia Narváez advised the students with the creative process and in decision-making. In turn, they were in Quito helping the youngsters with all the details so that they can achieve the highest scores.

Now they are going to continue with their academic training so that they continue to develop that talent and creativity that is already leaving successes at a national level.