In a joint action with the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (“ANJE”) and the Business Development Agency (“Aicep Portugal Global”), Corticeira Amorim is a partner of the Portuguese representation at the International Fashion Showcase (IFS) that will take place at Somerset House (a major arts and cultural centre in the heart of London) between the 19th and the 23rd February 2016.
The aim of this event is to provide a global platform for emerging fashion designers and offer them high visibility to showcase their abilities at the London Fashion Week, putting them in direct contact with the media and prospective buyers as well as establishing other important contacts within the industry.
Cork was chosen for the spatial scenography of the IFS, an event that is a key part of the London Fashion Week and is celebrating this year the 500th anniversary of the publication of Sir Thomas Moore’s work “Utopia”.
According to Miguel Flor, curator of the Bloom Portugal Fashion project, our intention with this artistic installation which uses cork "is to draw attention to the importance of ecologically and socially sustainable designs". In an event “focusing heavily on reusing materials, the use of cork does not disturb the balance of the ecosystem" but it contributes to “a symbiosis between the natural and the artificial". And he adds: "In Portugal, Corticeira Amorim is the best in working in a sustainable and eco-friendly environment and so it made perfect sense to challenge them".
Among the materials donated by Corticeira Amorim, that include expanded insulation corkboard and composite cork agglomerates – both these materials are dark-coloured and were used on the floors – the aesthetics of the space with markedly avant-garde lines is defined by the use of Dekwall, a cork wall covering manufactured by Wicanders. The scenographic design of the IFS was coordinated by Miguel Bento, who combined various Dekwall cork wall covering ranges from Wicanders. The then resulting installation combines innovation and sophistication and reconfirms the versatility of natural cork.
Corticeira Amorim has offered a total of one tonne of cork for the International Fashion Showcase event. About 400 m2 of the Dekwall range from Wicanders wall coverings were used. This product line is characterized by a natural cork look. The Dekwall portfolio includes more or less traditional lines and more or less contemporary or classical colours. This product offers clear benefits in terms of comfort as a result of the thermal and acoustic insulation it provides.
Since 2012 - the year when the interior of the Serpentine Gallery Pavillion designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei was clad in cork - that Corticeira Amorim has been participating in various events in the UK, such as the London Design Festival. Here, a natural cork floor was developed from scratch to be installed on the existing bridge over the Victoria & Albert’s Renaissance Galleries. All these various initiatives share the common goal of giving visibility to natural cork as a raw material with great potential to be used both in architecture and interior design.
