Supima Design Lab Names Talia Bourne as 2026 Competition Winner

NEW YORK, Nov. 6, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- SUPIMA, the non-profit luxury brand dedicated to promoting American-grown Pima cotton worldwide, hosted its second annual Supima Design Lab on November 5 at LAVAN Studios in New York City. The event brought together emerging and established global design talent for a showcase celebrating creativity, craftsmanship, and the versatility of Pima cotton. This year marked the 19th Supima Design Competition, with featured collections from the 2026 competition finalists, designers from the Festival d'Hyères, and select international designers.

The evening, hosted by fashion industry icon Nigel Barker, highlighted the next generation of fashion talent through original eveningwear designs that demonstrated exceptional craftsmanship and innovative approaches to Pima cotton. Talia Bourne, a student from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was named the winner of the 2026 Supima Design Competition. Bourne received a $10,000 prize for her collection, which explored the concept of entanglement. Inspired by the lifecycle of knots as they unravel, the collection showcased the transformation of each piece through the manipulation of fabric over time.

Bourke's collection was developed through a months-long mentorship program led by CFDA Award-winning designer Bibhu Mohapatra. The finalist collections showcased the versatility and quality of American-grown Pima cotton, with each piece demonstrating the fiber's exceptional softness, durability, and lasting color. The competition was evaluated by an esteemed panel of judges, including Abby Silverman, Claire Stern Milch, Elliot Duprey, Evan Hirsch, Fern Mallis, Freya Drohan, Heidi Bivens, Jerome Lamaar, Kevin Huynh, Laura Pitcher, Lisa Lockwood, Jason Rembert, Susan Alexandra, Aaron Royce, Kelly Augustine, and Natalie Lim Suarez.

The 2026 Supima Design Lab continued the tradition of the inaugural combined format in 2025, uniting SUPIMA's annual Supima Design Competition and Supima Design Lab for one immersive showcase. The event featured collections from the 2026 Supima Design Competition finalists, including Changshin Park from the Fashion Institute of Technology, Elias Frost from Drexel University, Tay Freeman from Parsons School of Design, The New School, Xingyi Liu from Pratt Institute, Adelynn Prushing from Kent State University, and Talia Bourne from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The festival d'Hyères finalists also showcased their designs, with entries from Brais Albor Rodriguez from Italy, Dieter Vlasich Obermann from Mexico-Germany, Farnia Salim from Iran, Jennifer Milleder from Austria, Loïs Cousin from France, Matil Vanlint from Belgium, Rachel Luurssen from the Netherlands, Sofia Castellon from Mexico-USA, Xiao Xu from China, and Yui Chen from China. Leading international designers, including AFEW Rahul Mishra from India, Jane Wade from New York, Lucas Emilio Brunner from Switzerland-Chile, Vautrait from Italy, and Youssef Drissi, LATE FOR WORK from Morocco, also participated in the event.

SUPIMA's commitment to nurturing emerging talent and fostering collaboration across the global fashion community was evident throughout the evening. The event highlighted the exceptional quality and versatility of American-grown Pima cotton, with each collection showcasing the fiber's unique properties and potential in fashion design.