Supima Design Competition: Taku Yhim of Parsons School wins the 2022 Prize

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Sep 12, 2022

Taku Yhim of Parsons School has won the 2022 Supima Design Competition Prize, leading a joint show of eight young talents inside Spring Studios in Tribeca, New York.

Taku Yhim nabbed first prize - and a $10,000 award - thanks to a highly impressive deconstructed series of looks made of Supima, the cashmere of cotton.

An alumni of Parson School in New York, Yhim was one of eight finalists, representing leading design and fashion colleges in the United States. The other seven finalists were Candice Tianyu, Academy of Arts University; Chan Kyoo Hwang, Drexel University; Fabian Renteria, Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising; Bryan Barrientos, Fashion Institute of Technology; Antonia Bruno, Kent State University; Hu Jun Yi, Rhode Island School of Design; and Michelle Sumin Suh, School of Art Institute of Chicago. 

“Thank you. This feels so great to win this award and to have participated in this unique process,” smiled Yhim.

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Finalists are required to prepare five looks based on different versions of Supima cotton - denim, jersey, velveteen, shirting and twill.  Supima, short for Superior Pima, is sustainably grown and only in the West and the Southwest U.S. 

The 16-member jury views the looks and look book video the day before without knowing the names of the designers and then votes. This year the jury was composed of included Ann Caruso, Avril Graham, Cipriana Quann, Claire Thomson–Jonville, Edward Barsamian, Fern Mallis, Freya Drohan, Godfrey Deeny, Jeffrey Taylor (2016 SDC winner), Jerome Lamaar, Kelly Augustine, Lisa Lockwood, Luke Meagher, Mickey Boardman, Shibon Kennedy, and Tyler McCall.

CFDA Award-winning evening wear designer, Bibhu Mohapatra, again acted as mentor to the finalists, while Christian Siriano returned as host and judge, jointly MCing with Coco Rocha, in a final staged inside Spring Studios in Tribeca.

In an exhilarating performance Yhim riffed on Samurai warriors showing blends of multi-padded or quilted armour; yarn and wool embroidery; and frayed laser cut suiting in hues of ocean and peacock black. If they had turned up in a Comme des Garçons show, they would have looked at home; suggesting Yhim has the design chops for a great future career.

Others to impress were Bryan Barrientos of FIT whose fine flute-shape velveteen dress and sculpted violet denim chess piece gown showed real bravura.

While Michelle Sumin Suh scored with some rather divine layered looks, notably a splash pattern cocktail that really wowed.