The winners have been announced for the Levi’s X Arts Thread Design Challenge, one of whom is a Salford BA Hons Fashion Design graduate - Val Kristopher Galbo
The competition received over 490 entries from 84 schools across the globe to spend 10 weeks with Levi’s® designers here at our San Francisco headquarters this summer
“For our second Levi’s x Arts Thread competition, the students were, again, of a very impressive standard. To everyone that entered, our heartfelt thanks. You’re a talented generation and the future looks bright,” said Jonathan Cheung, Levi’s® SVP of Global Design. “All eight final applicants were worthy of an internship and they did their fashion schools proud. However, from the hundreds of entrants, we could only pick two, and Lou and Val really stood out. I remember during their interviews silently mouthing ‘wow.’ We look forward to welcoming them to Levi’s® Design.”
This year’s focus was on Levi’s® Made & Crafted® where applicants were encouraged to share their vision for the 2018 collection. They each designed four-to-eight outfits for Levi’s® Made & Crafted® Fall/Winter 2018 line as well as crafted a visual identity for the brand.
The challenge was a natural fit for Val, who describes his idea of fun as working toward his goal to become a designer.
“I am a young, creative person who is willing to tackle challenges that goes far beyond the ‘norm,’” Val said. “As a person who likes to take on big challenges, I like to say and brag about my long-term and short-term goals to people because this only makes me thrive for more. I am a brave kid, so failure does not scare me, it only excites me.”
As Val tells it, “It is a canvas for all jeans that have been invented to date. It is the only denim that has been worn throughout different cultures, ages, genders and much more.”
Val is now set to embark on his own Levi’s® story as he prepares to make the journey to the U.S. for his internship. He will have the opportunity to work with Jonathan and his team of designers, take advantage of the Levi’s Archives, and do some work at the Eureka Innovation Lab with Bart Sights, Vice President of Technical Innovation for LS&Co.
“To me, [this internship] is a way that I can actually give value to the company and obtain knowledge,” Val said. “I am not here so I can put this down into a CV, I am coming to create something more.”
Source: Levis