Kapsuły Mody: Nowa Fala
Open Call Nowa Fala: conceptual fashion competition

Applications open · International Open Call

Open Call:
Nowa Fala

Innovation in the service of sustainable fashion. Design an avant-garde silhouette inspired by the water element, made entirely from reclaimed materials.

See the results

Competition results · 23 June 2026

Open Call winners

The jury has concluded its deliberations and selected 9 winners. Their designs will be presented digitally in the interactive SPLOT installation during the „Kapsuły Mody: Nowa Fala” exhibition at the Millenium Hall Cultural and Shopping Centre. Congratulations!

  1. 1st place Nikola Karasińska Grand Prize
  2. 2nd place Dominika Sierbo
  3. 3rd place Joanna Szary
  4. 3rd place Martyna Kuzara
  5. 3rd place Tebrole Kemoklidze

Distinctions (4 equal)

  1. Distinction Tatiana Łukasiewicz
  2. Distinction Maja Malkowska
  3. Distinction Diana Lytvynenko
  4. Distinction Aleksandra Owidzka

We thank every participant for their creativity, courage and commitment. Each entry showed how much fresh thinking about sustainable fashion lives in this new generation of designers. Your work is what makes this wave.

Why take part

Are you a young designer? Do you want to be part of an international project? Your design won't end up on a hanger. We present winning works digitally in the interactive SPLOT installation, and exhibition visitors can virtually „wear" your creation through Generative AI, in real time, in front of an audience at Millenium Hall.

Exhibition

Shown in the SPLOT installation

Your silhouette presented as part of the „Kapsuły Mody: Nowa Fala” exhibition during the Wschód Kultury – European Stadium of Culture 2026 festival.

Technology

AI virtual fitting room

Winning designs gain a digital life in the SPLOT installation, where visitors „wear" your creation through Generative AI.

Prizes

PLN 3,200 pool for 7 works

Cash prizes for the 7 best works (about EUR 750 in total) plus promotion across the channels of an international festival.

Competition theme

The water element dressed in the architecture of form

The competition task is to design and create an avant-garde conceptual fashion silhouette inspired by the aquatic environment. The concept must reference the fluidity, structure and dynamic nature of water (rivers, seas, oceans). Reach for what the water washes ashore: build abandoned fishing nets, ropes and ocean plastic straight into the silhouette.

The guiding theme is „Innovation” in the context of sustainable development (sustainable fashion) and ecology. We combine traditional tailoring craft with modern digital technologies and a way of thinking about the sustainable fashion of the future.

Who can take part

Who it's for

Students, graduates of art universities and independent fashion designers from Poland and the Eastern Partnership countries: Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Free of charge

Taking part in the competition is completely free. We charge no application fees and take no commission.

One project

Each participant may submit only one original design of a complete fashion silhouette.

Design requirements

100% reclaimed. Inventive upcycling scores highest

Only works made entirely from reclaimed materials are eligible for jury evaluation. Inventive upcycling scores highest: textile and tailoring waste, clothing for remaking, plastics, abandoned fishing nets, ropes and foils reworked into haute couture forms in answer to the climate challenge.

A complete entry includes:

  1. 1

    Application form

    A correctly completed application form (below on this page).

  2. 2

    Project visualization

    An artistic sketch, graphic design or photographic documentation of the finished silhouette (JPG / PNG / PDF).

  3. 3

    Concept description

    A short description (up to 500 characters including spaces): a specification of the reclaimed materials used and the rationale for the thematic inspiration.

Prizes

Total pool PLN 3,200 (approx. EUR 750)

  1. 1st place Main Prize PLN 1,000
  2. 2nd place PLN 700
  3. 3rd place PLN 500
  4. Honorable mentions 4 equal awards 4 × PLN 250

Beyond the cash awards, the works of all 7 winners (1st–3rd place and 4 honorable mentions) will be presented digitally in the interactive SPLOT installation, part of the exhibition at the Millenium Hall culture and retail centre. Visitors will be able to virtually „wear" the submitted creations through Generative AI, interacting with the works in real time.

Competition jury

Your entry is judged by

The winners are chosen by the creators of „Kapsuły Mody: Nowa Fala”, working at the meeting point of fashion, art and technology.

Zakia Cieślicka-Majka

Zakia Cieślicka-Majka

Lead Project Curator

A culture manager and community animator. She specialises in integrating high art with modern promotion and in building local identity around the region's values.

Robert Wróbel

Robert Wróbel

Culture animator, fashion expert

35 years of experience. Member of the Social Council for Culture, organiser of thousands of artistic events and fashion shows. Long-time publisher of the Day&Night monthly.

Agnieszka Buk

Dr Agnieszka Buk

Substantive coordination

A linguist, lecturer at the University of Rzeszów and vice-president of the GERMANITAS Foundation. An experienced coordinator of international cultural projects. Her research examines dress and fashion as forms of non-verbal communication. She co-created the „Chaber Rzeszowski” project and originated the „Fashion and Trends” series.

Jakub Hader

Jakub Hader

New media artist, founder of the Precyzja Foundation

Winner of the Mayor of Rzeszów award, an expert in augmented reality and generative art. Responsible for the digital and technological dimension of the SPLOT installation.

Schedule

  1. 16 June 2026

    Submissions open

    Official competition announcement and opening of applications.

  2. 22 June by 23:59

    Final submission deadline

    We accept entries through the online form and at zapisy@germanitas.pl. The date of receipt counts.

  3. 23 June 2026

    Jury deliberation and results

    Official announcement of the competition winners.

  4. 27 June 3:00 PM

    Opening and grand launch

    Exhibition opening at Millenium Hall and launch of the interactive SPLOT zone.

Copyright and consents

You keep full rights to your design

Taking part in the competition does not transfer the economic copyright in your design to the Organizer. Winners grant only a free-of-charge consent to create digital representations of the works, for the purposes of the non-commercial SPLOT installation and exhibition promotion.

Full competition regulations

§ 1. General provisions

  1. The organizer of the International Open Call Competition „Kapsuły Mody : Nowa Fala” (hereinafter the „Competition”) is the GERMANITAS International Cooperation Centre Foundation, in cooperation with the Team of Creators and Experts and the Millenium Hall culture and retail centre.
  2. The Competition is run as part of the „Kapsuły Mody : Nowa Fala” project, organised within the Wschód Kultury – European Stadium of Culture 2026 festival.
  3. The guiding theme of the Competition is „Innovation” in the context of sustainable development (sustainable fashion) and ecology.

§ 2. Objectives of the Competition

  1. Promotion of young, independent fashion designers from Poland and the Eastern Partnership countries.
  2. Education in ecological clothing design and popularisation of the ideas of upcycling, recycling and creative reuse of waste.
  3. Combining traditional tailoring craft with modern digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.

§ 3. Terms of participation

  1. The Competition is open to students, graduates of art universities and independent fashion designers who are citizens of Poland and the Eastern Partnership countries (in particular: Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan).
  2. Participation in the Competition is completely free of charge.
  3. Each participant may submit only one original design of a complete fashion silhouette.

§ 4. Design requirements

  1. The competition task is to design and create an avant-garde conceptual fashion silhouette inspired by the broadly defined aquatic environment. The artistic concept must directly reference:
    • The fluidity, structure and dynamic nature of the water element, rivers, seas and oceans.
    • The forms, unique textures and geometry of aquatic flora and fauna, including marine animals.
  2. An absolute condition for a work to be evaluated by the jury is that the project is made 100% from reclaimed materials. Inventive use of the following raw materials is permitted and scores highest:
    • Textile waste, clothing intended for upcycling and tailoring waste.
    • Recycled materials, plastics, abandoned fishing nets, ropes, foils and other consumer waste reworked into haute couture forms in answer to contemporary climate challenges.
  3. A complete competition entry must include:
    • A correctly completed application form, constituting Annex No. 1 to these regulations.
    • A visualization of the project (an artistic sketch, graphic design or photographic documentation of the finished silhouette).
    • A short concept description of the project (up to 500 characters including spaces) containing a concise specification of the reclaimed materials used and the rationale for the thematic inspiration.

§ 5. Competition schedule

  1. Announcement of the Competition and official opening of submissions: 16 June 2026.
  2. Final deadline for submitting entries electronically: 22 June 2026, by 23:59. Email: zapisy@germanitas.pl.
  3. Jury deliberations and announcement of official results: 23 June 2026.

§ 6. Prizes and awards

  1. The total cash prize pool in the Competition is PLN 3,200 (in words: three thousand two hundred Polish zlotys), the equivalent of approximately EUR 750.
  2. The competition committee will divide the prize pool in the following gradation:
    • 1st Place (Main Prize): PLN 1,000 / approx. EUR 235
    • 2nd Place: PLN 700 / approx. EUR 165
    • 3rd Place: PLN 500 / approx. EUR 120
    • Honorable mentions (4 equal awards): PLN 250 / approx. EUR 60 each (total PLN 1,000 / approx. EUR 240)
  3. Values expressed in EUR are indicative only. The final payment of cash prizes to participants will be made in Polish currency (PLN) or converted into foreign currency (EUR) at the official exchange rate of the National Bank of Poland on the day of transfer.
  4. Beyond the cash awards, the works of all 7 winners (1st–3rd places and 4 honorable mentions) will be presented digitally in the interactive SPLOT installation, part of the „Kapsuły Mody : Nowa Fala” exhibition at the Millenium Hall culture and retail centre. Visitors will be able to virtually „wear” the submitted creations through Generative AI, interacting with the works in real time.

§ 7. Copyright and final provisions

  1. Competition participants declare that the submitted projects are their exclusive intellectual property and do not infringe the copyrights of third parties.
  2. Winners grant a free-of-charge consent to use the submitted projects to create their digital representations using Generative AI technology, solely for the purposes of the SPLOT installation that forms part of the „Kapsuły Mody : Nowa Fala” exhibition at the Millenium Hall culture and retail centre.

    The consent covers processing the visualizations, sketches, photographs and other competition materials in order to present the projects in the SPLOT installation, including by generating images that show exhibition visitors virtually „wearing” the submitted projects. The generated visualizations are illustrative and artistic in nature only.

    The digital representations of the projects are used solely for non-commercial purposes connected with running and promoting the exhibition and operating the SPLOT installation during its presentation. Granting this consent does not constitute a transfer of the economic copyright in the design to the Organizer.

  3. The Organizer reserves the right to amend these regulations for reasons beyond its control, of which it undertakes to inform promptly via the partners' official digital channels.

Submission

Submit your project

Fill in the application form and attach a visualization of your project. Uploading a file requires signing in to a Google account. If you run into trouble, you can send your entry directly to zapisy@germanitas.pl.

Fill in the application form