SUPIMA Announces Varvara (Bobby) Diakonenkova as Winner of the 2025 Supima Design Competition at the First NYC Supima Design Lab

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SUPIMA, the non-profit luxury brand dedicated to promoting American-grown Pima cotton, proudly announced Varvara (Bobby) Diakonenkova of Drexel University as the winner of the 2025 Supima Design Competition during the Supima Design Lab, held on November 5th at Lavan Studios in New York City.

Hosted by renowned photographer and fashion industry icon Nigel Barker, this year marked a new chapter for SUPIMA as it merged its annual Supima Design Competition and Supima Design Lab into one dynamic evening celebrating creativity, innovation, and global design talent.

Guests experienced an immersive, presentation-style showcase featuring collections from the 2025 Supima Design Competition finalists, Festival d’Hyères finalists, and leading international designers. Each collection, crafted using SUPIMA’s signature American-grown Pima cotton—renowned for its unmatched softness, durability, and luster—highlighted the fiber’s exceptional versatility and global appeal.

The evening culminated with Varvara (Bobby) Diakonenkova being named the 2025 Supima Design Competition winner, recognized for a visionary eveningwear capsule collection that demonstrated exceptional craftsmanship, originality, and a forward-thinking interpretation of SUPIMA cotton.

2025 Supima Design Competition Finalists:

• Varvara (Bobby) Diakonenkova | Drexel University
• Caroline Hill | Kent State University
• Emma Gonzalez Pini | Parsons School of Design, The New School
• Griselda Peña Candelario | Pratt Institute
• Isabel Weiss | The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

2025 Festival d’Hyères Finalists:

• Noah Almonte| Switzerland (Winner, The Supima Prize)
• Layla Al Tawaya | Poland (Winner, L’Atelier des Matières Prize)
• Layla Al Tawaya | Poland (Winner, L’Atelier des Matières Prize)
• Lucas Emilio Brunner | Switzerland – Chile (Winner, Grand Prix of the Jury)
• Idaliina Friman | Finland
• Xinyi He | China
• Sofia Hermens Fernandez | Germany - Spain
• Adrien Michel | France (Winner, le19M Métiers d’Art Prize)
• Dennis Sanders | Germany
• Vanessa Schreiner | Austria
• Youssef Zogheib | Lebanon (Winner, Public Prize of the City of Hyères)

2025 Leading International Designers:

• AFEW Rahul Mishra | India
• Bianca Saunders | UK
• LUAR | USA
• Torishéju | UK
• Vautrait | France

Designer bios and IG handles are linked here.

The 2025 Supima Design Lab showcased SUPIMA’s ongoing commitment to nurturing emerging talent while highlighting the versatility of American-grown Pima cotton as a cornerstone of sustainable luxury. Each Supima Design Competition collection was carefully evaluated by an esteemed panel of judges including: Abby Silverman, Avril Graham, Danya Issawi, Evan Hirsch, Fern Mallis, Freya Drohan, Jerome Lamaar, Jian DeLeon, Kevin Huynh, Lisa Lockwood, Mandy Lee, Mickey Boardman, Natalie Lim Suarez, Nicole Chapoteau, and Tiffany Reid.

PHOTOS

Link to Getty / Photo Credit: Getty Images for Supima
Link to download Getty images / Photo Credit: Getty Images for Supima
Link to download Matthew Carasella Images / Photo Credit: Matthew Carasella Productions

ABOUT SUPIMA

SUPIMA is America’s luxury cotton: founded in 1954, the SUPIMA brand, short for “Superior Pima”, designates an elite variety of Pima cotton sustainably grown only in the West and the Southwest U.S. It is prized the world over by designers and discerning consumers who value its resilient strength, lasting color, and indulgent softness.