ABOUT

PARAISO created a design student challenge with the goal to raise awareness on sustainability by upcycling dead stock fabrics from international swimwear and activewear designers. The competition invites design students to create two pieces from donated dead-stock fabrics, for the opportunity to present at PARAISO, win designer mentorships and special monetary prize.

The Application process consists of three rounds and only five students make the third round to determine the winner.
Application is open only to registered students.

Official Academic Partner

PARAISO AND ISTITUTO MARANGONI MIAMI PARTNER FOR THE SWIM-UPCYCLE CHALLENGE TO BRING FIVE FINALISTS TO SWIM WEEK’S MAIN STAGE AND RAISE AWARENESS ON FASHION SUSTAINABILITY

Reputable swimwear brands AGUA BENDITA, BEACH RIOT, RIOT SWIM, GUESS SWIM, AND LULI FAMA will donate deadstock fabric and mentor five student designers from Istituto Marangoni Miami who will present their looks at Paraiso Miami Beach on Friday, 5/31.

MEET THE 2024 SWIM-UPCYCLE CHALLENGE FINALISTS

The 4THE edition of the Paraiso SwiM Up-cycle Challenge — created to raise awareness on fashion sustainability by upcycling dead-stock fabrics from international swimwear designers — will include an exclusive partnership with Istituto Marangoni Miami (IMM), one of the nation’s top fashion and design schools. Five design students from IMM were selected based on sketches submitted to Paraiso this past spring and will compete and receive mentorship by celebrated swimwear brands TAGUA BENDITA, BEACH RIOT, RIOT SWIM, GUESS SWIM, AND LULI FAMA.

The student finalists have already been matched with participating swimwear labels and will have chronicled mentoring sessions with representatives from each brand. MARIA CAMILA CABRERA RUIZ will be mentored by LULI FAMA, MARIANA JIMENEZ by BEACH RIOT, JUAN VARGAS by GUESS Swim, ROTEM BENSAADON by AGUA BENDITA, and DANIEL URIBE by RIOT Swim. Their patterns and designs will be posted on social media to aptly document the process of this exciting competition.

The goal of the challenge is to teach students how to reduce the negative environmental impact of creating virgin fabrics by instead utilizing deadstock materials. This is done in the hope that design students will be encouraged to implement the process in their future work, in an industry where sustainable practices are becoming the new normal.

“Seeing the final pieces come to life on the runway is truly a thrill for us at Paraiso,” stated Natalija Dedic Stojanovic, co-Founder and Creative Director of Paraiso. “By partnering with Istituto Marangoni Miami on the Swim-Upcycle Challenge this year, Paraiso is encouraging young designers to focus on sustainable design that doesn’t sacrifice style or luxury.”

Istituto Marangoni Miami’s President and Founder Hakan Baykam echoes the statement. “At a time when the future of fashion is indisputably influenced by new advancements in sustainable practices that are in sync with the environment, this partnership creates an opportunity to enrich IMM’s students with knowledge and expertise in using upcycled fabrics to create pieces that make an impact fashion and the world we live in.”

On Friday, MAY 31ST, during Day 2 of Paraiso Miami Beach, the designers will present two looks each to an industry jury consisting of:

Ivy Heilman, Senior Buyer for Intimates, Swim and Active at Anthropologie
Torey Schulof, The founder of J Rosen Showroom
Sierra Mayhew Fashion Editor for Who What Wear

The winning designer will be chosen based on ability to create two swimwear looks using only up-cycled materials, overall wearability, creativity, and construction.

ABOUT ISTITUTO MARANGONI MIAMI 

Supporting talent since 1935 through its various worldwide campus locations, Istituto Marangoni Miami (IMM), a design school in the heart of the Miami Design District, offers multiple degrees in fashion. Along with a number of professional short courses throughout the academic year, the school offers a two-year Associate of Arts in Fashion Studies, four-year Bachelors of Arts courses in Fashion Design, Fashion Styling, and Fashion Business, and a Master’s in Fashion & Luxury Brand Management. As a leader in fashion design schools, the institute features design classrooms, pattern-cutting studios, theory classrooms, and high-tech computer labs to provide students with access to all of the latest fashion technology.

2023 DESIGNER MENTORS