International success: METU Fashion Design Students Awarded at the C-IDEA Design Awards

Clarissa Bánáti’s Modern Ancestry collection, created in 2025–26, won a Silver Award in the Fashion Design category. The project was supervised by Kriszta Remete DLA habil.

The collection draws on the visual and craft traditions of Hungarian and Transylvanian cultural heritage. Inspired by her Transylvanian roots, Clarissa combines traditional motifs and techniques – including embroidery, felting and hand-stitching techniques – with contemporary textile design and form-making methods.

Traditional craftsmanship is not merely used as decoration on the garments but becomes an integral part of their structure and form. Modern Ancestry explores the relationship between past and present, cultural identity, and the possibilities for traditions to live on in a contemporary context. Sustainability, the use of natural and, wherever possible, locally sourced materials, as well as the philosophy of slow design, are also important aspects of the collection.

Míra Vig’s work The Legacy of the Little Black Dress was also selected among the awarded works of the 2026 C-IDEA Design Award. The work, created in November 2025, was supervised by Dalma Závodszky.

The project explores the concept of intergenerational textile memory through the reinterpretation of handmade lace in contemporary fashion. The garment is constructed from fragments of hand-crocheted lace dating from the 20th century, carrying the personal stories and memories of Míra’s own family.

The lace fragments from different sources were individually dyed black by hand and then transformed into a powerful, sculptural silhouette using a custom-made hoop structure. The work thus becomes both a personal archive and a contemporary fashion object, while also drawing attention to how craft traditions can acquire new meanings in contemporary design.

“I am grateful for this recognition, as it confirms that a personal archive can become a valid part of contemporary design discourse. The garment itself suggests that the memory of a family and of generations can become raw material from which a contemporary design language can emerge: not by preserving tradition, but by continuously rewriting it” said Míra Vig.

Dorina Borsos’s Strawdress, created in 2025, also received recognition in the Fashion Design category. The project was supervised by Kriszta Remete DLA habil.

The garment was created as part of an upcycling project based on reinterpreting materials regarded as waste and using them to create new value. Strawdress is made entirely from leftover and discarded straw hats: Dorina deconstructed, transformed and then reassembled them into a new form.

The concept was inspired by the world of rattan furniture and organic forms found in nature. One of the central questions of the design process was the balance between structure and flexibility. Alongside structures reminiscent of woven surfaces, freely moving elements lend lightness and dynamism to the garment, while responding to the movement of the body and creating a connection between the wearer and the surrounding space.

The work highlights the importance of sustainability, craftsmanship and experimental use of materials, while representing a more conscious and sensitive approach to contemporary fashion design.