KRISTINA VYZAITE

Redress Design Award 2021 FINALIST

Bio

Kristina is a finalist of the Redress Design Award 2021. She studied fashion design at Vilnius Academy of Arts in Lithuania and holds an MA Fashion from Kingston School of Arts, UK.

“As a young child, I watched my mother rip up an old coat to create two coats for my twin sister and me. Lithuania was still finding its feet after gaining independence from Soviet occupation - materials were scarce. This day has always stood out in my memory as it was the first time I was exposed to sustainability and rational consumption. Right now, the world’s consumerism is centred around ‘buy new’; I strive to change the default to ‘give new life.” - Kristina Vyzaite

redress Design Award Collection

Kristina’s Redress Design Award collection, ‘Nerimas’, draws inspiration from the art of crochet and its significance in her memories as a symbolic centrepiece of where her family would gather to share stories in Lithuania. She upcycles hand-crocheted textiles such as tablecloths and placemats as her raw material as the stitches can be easily unraveled and threads reused along with deadstock fabrics which are naturally hand-dyed from home grown plants. Kristina aims to promote longevity in her designs by educating consumers on repair techniques and via her concept of ‘generational threads’, passing emotive materials to new generations.