As a laureate of this year’s Prince Claus Awards, sustainable fashion designer and WDCD13 speaker Carla Fernández returns to Amsterdam this week to headline an afternoon programme at De Balie Centre on Thursday 12 December.
Fernández will attend the Prince Claus Awards ceremony at the Royal Palace on 11 December, where this year’s main award will be granted to the late Egyptian poet Ahmed Fouad Negm, who sadly passed away last week.
Like all other laureates, Fernández will receive her award later back home in Mexico. But this week she will be taking part in an afternoon at De Balie as part of ‘Culture in Action: Prince Claus Awards Week’. At De Balie, former European coordinator of the Clean Clothes Campaign and fair-fashion expert Marieke Eyskoot will discuss eco fashion and innovative design with Fernández. In addition, Joke Robaard, an artist and photographer originally trained in fashion design, will give a presentation on the different meanings of the term ‘social fabric’ and reflect on the work of Fernández.
Carla Fernández is honoured for creating stunning contemporary fashions by collaborating and adapting traditional techniques and styles; for empowering communities, especially women, by channelling their knowledge and skills into modern design; for reinvigorating Mexico’s indigenous textile traditions and establishing a detailed archive as a lasting legacy for future generations; for devising an ethical production model that fully respects the intellectual property rights of indigenous individuals and communities; and for demonstrating the important cultural, social and economic role of textiles and design for a country and community.
The Prince Claus Awards honour outstanding achievements in the field of culture and development. The awards are presented annually to 11 individuals or organizations whose cultural actions have a positive impact on the development of their societies.
To learn more about Fernández’s work, have a look at her presentation at WDCD13.