Robin and Lucienne Day Prize Awarded to Textiles Student Lucy Rainbow

Established in February 2012, The Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation preserves the Days’ legacy as leading designers of the twentieth century. It aims to promote understanding and appreciation of the UK’s design heritage and of the work of Robin and Lucienne Day in particular. It encourages provision of public access to the Days’ design legacies, and provides opportunities to enable the general public and students to further their study of design.

The £2,000 prize is one of the ways the Foundation supports the study and understanding of design, and Lucy Rainbow explained what it meant to her to win the award: ‘It is the most incredible honour and I am deeply humbled and amazed. I am beyond grateful to The Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation for their support and encouragement, which has served to strengthen my resolve to continue with my design project. I will endeavour to make them proud!’

The Robin and Lucienne Day Prize for Ethical and Sustainable Design is awarded to the Royal College of Art final-year student who, in the judgement of the Rector and the Chair of the Foundation, has realised the design which best embodies Robin and Lucienne Day’s commitment to socially responsible and sustainable design. Lucy Rainbow described her award-winning work: ‘It is a series of sustainable (hemp) work-wear clothing, based on NHS garments, designed with the intention of bringing nature into a medical environment. The series is an inquiry into how nature can enhance medical work-wear for the benefit of the patients and hospital staff.’

Sustainability is an extremely important issue across the RCA, with many programmes addressing social and environmental issues relating to sustainability and future living. At the heart of the College’s work in this area is SustainRCA, an initiative that fosters and champions the role of art and design in creating a positive, equitable and socially empowered future. The Textiles programme works closely with SustainRCA and runs a Future Textiles project early in the first year of study, in order to introduce students to the crucial questions around sustainability.

At the prize-giving, Paula Day, Founder and Chair of The Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation was accompanied by Head of Textiles Professor Clare Johnston and Rector of the Royal College of Art Dr Paul Thompson, who said, ‘The Robin and Lucienne Day Prize for Ethical and Sustainable Design is one of many awards and scholarships available to students at the RCA. Others include The Abraaj RCA Innovation Scholarship, The James Dyson Foundation Scholarship and The Orla Kiely Scholarship.’