APOLDA EUROPEAN DESIGN AWARD 2023

Knitting- and Textile Workshop  once again inspired budding young designers

The 19th knitting and textile workshop took place in Apolda from 12.09.2021 to 18.09.2021. 15 aspiring young designers from the universities of Trier and Berlin-Weißensee had the unique opportunity to implement their ideas and designs on the theme of "Carte Blanche" in six regional knitting companies and to develop their own collections. The students were supported by the following regional companies:

strickchic GmbH, Apolda
LederAtelier Apolda GmbH
Kaseee (Design & Art), Apolda
Strickatelier Landgraf, Apolda
SL Moden, Apolda
Anke Hammer StrickArt Bad Sulza

The knitting and textile workshop builds a bridge from innovative creative progress to professional practice. Innovation based on sound applied experience. The week in Apolda gave the students the necessary insight into the processes of everyday professional life and closes an elementary training gap. This gap cannot be filled with such consistency in university studies, because time and technical factors that arise during the week have to be solved flexibly and quickly. Time is a relevant factor in practice, it plays an essential role in the implementation of a collection.

Prof. Dirk Wolfes (Trier University of Applied Sciences): "On behalf of the students and the universities of Trier and Weißensee Berlin, we would like to thank you for this unique opportunity of the international knitting and textile workshop in Apolda. It is an exemplary project which, thanks to the support of numerous actors from politics and industry, gives students an insight into professional practice.
The knitting and textile workshop enthused the students because it took place before the universities opened for the coming winter semester and they had missed the mediation and the creative power of the community for three semesters and were now able to experience it again for the first time. They learn a lot from each other in the exchange and we all know that YouTube videos and Vimeo tutorials are interesting, but the mediation in practice - experiencing and living through it - sets lasting impulses."

Prof. Doreen Schulz (Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin): "Creativity lives from emotion. This knitting and textile workshop was so helpful and puts a strong exclamation mark on its competence in mediation and social responsibility far beyond the borders of the region. The knitting and textile workshop was a strong symbol of hope and overcoming. A social community that unleashes creativity and hope for the future. Holding the knitting and textile workshop was equally a strong signal to the students and a powerful sign of the direction and importance of regional competences."

Matthias Ameis (Managing Director): "There was something very special about this week. The excitement and emotions were felt and tangible the whole time like hardly any year before. The initial uncertainty due to the pandemic gave way to a relaxed and creative working atmosphere as the week progressed. The creativity was discharged more and more like energy into the collections. The results speak for themselves."

On Saturday, 18.09.2021, 7.00 p.m., the RÜBERG model team from Erfurt will present the young designers' finished collections in a fashion show at the Hotel am Schloß Apolda.

The organisers, the district of Weimarer Land, the district town of Apolda and the Wirtschaftsförder-Vereinigung Apolda/Weimarer Land e. V. would like to thank the sponsors:

Vereinsbrauerei Apolda GmbH
Energieversorgung Apolda GmbH
Autohaus Fischer GmbH
Hotel am Schloß Apolda GmbH
Sparkasse Mittelthüringen
Strickchic GmbH Apolda
Freistaat Thüringen, Thüringer Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Digitale Gesellschaft