Rising creatives are reimagining materials in symbiosis with nature, blending ancestral knowledge, biomaterials and ecological care to shape regenerative futures. Across fashion, textiles and product design, this cohort cultivates new relationships between colour, waste and ecology.

Today’s makers are turning to traditional techniques and local materials as powerful tools for storytelling, cultural preservation and emotional connection. Through personal narratives and time-honoured processes, their work offers a slower, more intentional alternative to fast-paced fashion and textiles – honouring the past while shaping thoughtful futures.

Material becomes a language for memory, emotion and transformation in thoughtful explorations of sensory design. Through heat, light, touch and time, these works evoke introspection and intimacy, often supporting wellbeing through restorative, multisensory experiences.

Designers are embracing the surreal, the sensual and the subversive to craft emotionally charged works that explore intimacy, identity and desire. From woodland dreamscapes to dystopian glamour, fashion and jewellery collections blur the boundaries between fantasy and reality, vulnerability and power.

Through expressive palettes, nostalgic references and tactile storytelling, creatives are transforming everyday objects and garments into vibrant, sensory-rich experiences that uplift and delight. Colour also takes centre stage as a vehicle for joy, memory and emotional resonance.