SUPIMA hosted its second annual Supima Design Lab on November 5 at LAVAN Studios in New York City, bringing together emerging and established global design talent for a showcase celebrating creativity, craftsmanship and the versatility of American-grown Pima cotton. The presentation featured collections from the 2026 Supima Design Competition finalists, designers from the Festival d’Hyères and select international designers. Talia Bourne of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago was named the 2026 competition winner, receiving a $10,000 prize for her collection exploring the concept of entanglement.
SUPIMA, the non-profit luxury brand dedicated to promoting American-grown Pima cotton worldwide, proudly announced Talia Bourne of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as the winner of the 2026 Supima Design Competition during the second annual Supima Design Lab, held on November 5 at LAVAN Studios in New York City.
Photography by Matthew Carasella, image courtesy of SUPIMA.
Hosted by renowned photographer, filmmaker, and fashion industry icon Nigel Barker, the evening brought together emerging and established global design talent for a dynamic celebration of creativity, innovation, and craftsmanship. Following the success of its inaugural combined format in 2025, SUPIMA once again united its annual Supima Design Competition and Supima Design Lab for one immersive showcase.
Photography by Matthew Carasella, images courtesy of SUPIMA.
Guests experienced a presentation-style showcase featuring collections from the 2026 Supima Design Competition finalists, emerging designers from the prestigious Festival d’Hyères, and a select group of leading international designers. Each collection incorporated SUPIMA’s signature American-grown Pima cotton, renowned for its exceptional softness, durability, and lasting color, highlighting the fiber’s versatility across a range of design perspectives.
The evening culminated with Talia Bourne being named the 2026 Supima Design Competition winner, earning a $10,000 prize for her collection exploring the concept of entanglement. Inspired by the lifecycle of knots as they unravel, the collection showcased the transformation of each piece through the manipulation of fabric over time. Developed through a months-long mentorship program led by CFDA Award-winning designer Bibhu Mohapatra, the finalist collections showcased the next generation of fashion talent through original eveningwear designs that demonstrated exceptional craftsmanship and innovative approaches to SUPIMA cotton.
2026 Supima Design Lab, the 2026 Supima Design Competition – Judging
Photography by Matthew Carasella, images courtesy of SUPIMA.
The 2026 Supima Design Lab showcased SUPIMA’s continued commitment to nurturing emerging talent and fostering collaboration across the global fashion community, while highlighting the exceptional quality and versatility of American-grown Pima cotton. This year’s 19th Supima Design Competition collections were evaluated by an esteemed panel of returning and new judges, including Abby Silverman, Claire Stern Milch, Elliot Duprey, Evan Hirsch, Fern Mallis, Freya Drohan, Heidi Bivens, Jerome Lamaar, Kevin Huynh, Laura Pitcher, Lisa Lockwood, Jason Rembert, Susan Alexandra, Aaron Royce, Kelly Augustine, and Natalie Lim Suarez.
2026 Supima Design Competition Finalists:
- Changshin Park | Fashion Institute of Technology
- Elias Frost | Drexel University
- Tay Freeman | Parsons School of Design, The New School
- Xingyi Liu | Pratt Institute
- Adelynn Prushing | Kent State University
- Talia Bourne (Winner) | School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2026 Festival d’Hyères Finalists:
- Brais Albor Rodriguez | Italy
- Dieter Vlasich Obermann | Mexico-Germany
- Farnia Salim | Iran
- Jennifer Milleder | Austria
- Loïs Cousin | France
- Matil Vanlint | Belgium
- Rachel Luurssen | Netherlands
- Sofia Castellon | Mexico-USA
- Xiao Xu | China
- Yui Chen | China
2026 Leading International Designers:
- AFEW Rahul Mishra | India
- Jane Wade | New York
- Lucas Emilio Brunner | Switzerland-Chile
- Vautrait | Italy
- Youssef Drissi – LATE FOR WORK | Morocco
About the Designer: TALIA BOURNE
School: School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Age: 23
Hometown: Shanghai, China
Supima Collection: Unraveled
Originally from Shanghai, China, Talia Bourne is a Fashion Design graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago whose creative practice is rooted in storytelling, material exploration, and interdisciplinary art making. Drawn to SAIC for its emphasis on experimentation across artistic mediums, Bourne embraced opportunities to study accessory design, millinery, costume design, and historical fashion alongside her core fashion curriculum. Her interest in fashion began as a child, sketching alongside episodes of Project Runway with her mother, and later evolved through sewing, fine arts training, and a fascination with transforming familiar materials into imaginative forms.
Talia Bourne – The Winner of the 2026 Supima Design Competition.
Photo courtesy of SUPIMA.
Bourne’s work is defined by whimsical concepts, intricate textile techniques, and sculptural experimentation. Her 2026 Supima Design Competition collection, Unraveled, explores the ideas of entanglement and disentanglement through the language of knots, threads, and weaving, asking how a fabric-and by extension identity-changes when a single thread is pulled free. Using dyeing, printing, laser cutting, burning, fraying, and other fabric manipulations, she pushes the expressive possibilities of Supima cotton while creating garments that balance texture, structure, and narrative. The resulting collection is an intricate web of craftsmanship that celebrates transformation through material innovation.
Inspired by designers who blur the boundaries between fashion and art, Bourne hopes to create garments that encourage viewers to pause, look closer, and discover the stories woven into every detail. Her experience presenting work in multiple runway showcases, combined with an unwavering passion for experimentation and craftsmanship, reflects a designer committed to expanding the creative potential of contemporary fashion.
COLLECTION STATEMENT
This collection explores the idea of entanglement and entanglement through the language of knots, threads and weaving. The interconnection of thread to create a woven fabric is a process deeply rooted in history, symbolizing structure, stability, and human connection. Yet the collection asks what happens when that structure begins to unravel. When a single thread is pulled loose, can the fabric ever return to its original form, or does it inevitably transform into something entirely new?
Talia Bourne, Winner of the 2026 Supima Design Competition – Unraveled Collection Final Sketch Lineup.
Imagery by the designer, courtesy of SUPIMA.
Using knots as both a visual and conceptual foundation, this work investigates themes of connection, knots, unraveling, and entanglement. Knots carry cultural and emotional significance; they can bind, secure, preserve, or complicate. Their construction becomes a metaphor for relationships, memory, and identity, where every twist and pull alters the final form.
Talia Bourne, Winner of the 2026 Supima Design Competition – Unraveled Collection Color Story.
Imagery by the designer, courtesy of SUPIMA.
The collection follows the lifecycle of a knot, beginning with its tight entanglement and following it through its gradual and progressive states of unraveling as it attempts to pull away from its knotted form and return to its original state of thread.
Talia Bourne, Winner of the 2026 Supima Design Competition – Unraveled Collection Moodboard.
Imagery by the designer, courtesy of SUPIMA.
Textile experimentation plays a central role in the collection. Each fabric is selected for its unique weave, density, and tactile quality, emphasizing how different constructions respond to manipulation and deconstruction. By exposing the inner workings of woven materials, the collection invites viewers to reconsider fabric not as a finished surface, but as a fragile network of interconnected threads constantly capable of transformation.
SUPIMA
https://supima.com | @supima
SUPIMA is America’s luxury cotton: founded in 1954, the SUPIMA brand, short for “Superior Pima”, designates an elite variety of Pima cotton sustainably grown only in the West and the Southwest U.S. It is prized the world over by designers and discerning consumers who value its resilient strength, lasting color, and indulgent softness.
All images courtesy of SUPIMA.
Tags: apparel, clothing, collection, competition, contemporary design, cotton, culture, denim, design, design exhibition, designer spotlight, designers, fashion, fashion competition, fashion design, fashion designers, knots, LAVAN Studios, New York City, organic cotton, pima cotton, premium cotton, product design, Supima, Supima Design Competition, Supima Design Lab, sustainability, sustainable fashion, Top
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