Do you know the Uruguayan contest "Animate a Tejer"*? (kind of "Dare you to Knit!")
We are very excited about "Animate a Tejer", a knitting design contest we are presenting in Uruguay.
Young designers and knitters from every spot of the country compete, at first, with the illustrations of a ten pieces collection. Clothing and accessories have to be craftworks, designed mainly in yarn -though leather, metal, minerals and other materials can be used to ornate it.
This collection must be inspired on the Uruguayan three natural kingdoms: minerals, fauna and flora.
The special challenge is to express a different and fresh view of our nature: finding new angles or surprising natural qualities, and unveiling unknown or forgotten beauty.
From the first "round", 25 designers are selected to produce their garments, one piece each one, which are then evaluated by the jury. Contestants have four weeks to knit the garments, and Balitex Lanas, our core company in Uruguay, provides all the wool yarn for free, to provide equal opportunities to everybody.
"Animate a Tejer" final event will consist in a Fashion show presented at the Radisson Victoria Plaza Hotel, one of the most prestigious 5 stars hotels in Montevideo. The twenty five outfits are presented in the catwalk, before the jury proceeds to deliver verdict.
The winner will get air tickets and, as the two winners of special mentions, wool purchase orders, a digital book, the chance to present their garments at the prestigious fairs Expo Prado 2010 in Uruguay, and the TNNA 2010 summer show in USA.
But... "Animate a Tejer" is not just a fashion show... behind all the fun, deep goals guide this project. We aim to:
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Rescue traditional labors, part of our identity, which are now disappearing in our country.
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Support the incipient local fashion industry, aiming to give a professional character to the field.
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Refresh Uruguay position as the wool country it is.
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Promote the generational change of knitters, helping new designers and knitters to get to know and work with pure wool (very expensive and unusual in the local market)
The contest has been declared of cultural and ministerial interest, by the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining; and is supported by the main designing schools of the country.
Terms and conditions, and more info are available (in Spanish) in the contest blog animateatejer.blogspot.com
