Textile Insight

February 26 - 28, 2019 ENVISION. ENGAGE. EVOLVE. The best advice Andrea Cinque-Austin got at an early age that shapes her creative thinking now is, "Create a meaningful story with your designs, protect that story during the development phase, and try your hardest to make it come to life," recalls Cinque- Austin, director of design for prAna, adding "when it does 'sell the dream' of your story to your customer because that's what makes your designs uniquely you and passion and vision are contagious." Here, Cinque-Austin fills in the blanks for questions on a range of the topics including design, creativity and her favorite pair of jeans. A brand you admire outside of our industry for smart out-of-the-box innovation is: "Stone Island, they have been innovating in materi- als for over 30 years, the amount of material R&D they conduct seasonally is amazing." A material solution you helped bring to market is: "PrAna's amazing Cardiff fleece and jersey. We created this proprietary blend from the fiber up. It is a Hemp/Recycled Polyester/Tencel fleece. It's unique in that it blends a lifestyle look with a soft touch but is completely technical due the hemp and recycled Polyester working off each other." When looking for inspiration you seek: "A connection or a pattern. I am always hunting and gathering inspiration from all of my interactions. I have my ways of capturing these inspirational nuggets and then making connections with them, consistently looking for patterns from which to create meaningful stories." The textile you're currently intrigued with is: "Hemp, it can be a cotton alternative that performs and is more sustainable. I am looking forward to continuing to innovate by blending it with other fibers to create different hand feels and textures." An ideal blend of function and fashion (percentage- wise in most cases is: "50/50. I think that just because it is fashion doesn't mean it's not functional – you can have your cake and eat it to. This is fundamental to the prAna ethos of stylish, versatile, and thoughtful apparel. In my opinion, 'comfort' is now part of the equation as well. It is our job to create a balance in every gar- ment. Thanks to technology and emotion colliding it is easier for us to do this now than in the past." Good design is obvious when: "When it makes sense to the end user." The biggest change in material sourcing you've experienced thus far in your career is: "Blurring the lines between purely technical or Lifestyle fabrications." Your favorite pair of jeans is: "I have an old pair of deep indigo articulated cropped G-Star RAW jeans, they have a slight banana leg shape and the denim shade gets more unique with time." How do you waste time? "Watching the waves roll on the shore at my favorite beach with a stack of fashion magazines." l TRENDSETTER Q&A | prAna Material Matters 8 Questions for prAna's Director of Design Andrea Cinque-Austin, prAna textileinsight.com January/February 2019 ~ Textile Insight • 43

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