Toray Industries, Inc. is providing its ultra-fine fiber, Ultrasuede, to Osaka Institute of Fashion in Osaka City, Japan for use in the Institute’s special class and for the creation of designs by its students.

Creations featuring Ultrasuede made by OIF students will debut on December 3 at the “GRAND WISH STUDENT COLLECTION,” a fashion show event within the Christmas event “Grand Wish Christmas 2022 – An Invitation to CHRISTMAS WIZARDING WORLD Harry Potter,” which is being organized by Grand Front Osaka. After being unveiled, these creations will be displayed at various locations in Grand Front Osaka North Building throughout the event period from December 4 (Sunday) through December 25 (Sunday). 

Founded in 1946, OIF is a fashion-specialized school that has nurtured and produced many talented ready-to-work designers under its policy of “contributing to society through fashion.” The Institute offers an advanced curriculum including the Super Designer program, which is designed to foster world-class top designers who are capable of launching their own private brands while they are still in school.

In the special class offered on October 4, Toray employees delivered a lecture to second-year students enrolled in the Super Designer Department, and gave the students an opportunity to actually feel the fabric and to try on sample garments made of Ultrasuede™. This experience helped the students to deepen their knowledge of the fabric, while they also learned about sewing methods for this fabric and post-treatment possibilities. After the class, the students asked many specific questions associated with the creation of their designs, indicating that they had a high level of interest in the fabric.

From now on, students filled with the aspiration to become Super Designers will be working to create their designs around the theme “WISH” in preparation for their debut during the Christmas event scheduled for December. Toray hopes that the use of Ultrasuede will further inspire these students and help to broaden the possibilities of creative design.

Toray’s educational activities featuring Ultrasuede began in 2016 with a lecture on this material delivered at an institution of higher education in Beijing, China and the donation of the material for use in graduation works by the institute’s students. Since then, Toray has continued to provide information on Ultrasuede™ and quantities of the fabric itself to leading fashion- and design-related educational institutes both inside and outside Japan at no cost. Moreover, with the aim of cultivating talented designers particularly in the world of fashion, we are actively engaged in supporting the next generation of aspiring young designers through sponsorship and support for international fashion events and awards.

Under the Ultrasuede vision of “To enrich society through empowered creativity and materials evolution,” we will continue to take on the challenge to realize Toray Group’s corporate philosophy, “Contributing to society through the creation of new value with innovative ideas, technologies, and products.” Support for educational institutes through offering Ultrasuede™ is one way to make this happen.