artsthread

Our 7th edition of the Global Creative Graduate Showcase is now open! ✅ This proactive initiative has been created for all creative students graduating this year across all art & design categories — including fine art, visual communication, film, fashion, textiles, interiors, architecture, visual arts, contemporary craft, industrial & product design and more. ✅ Open to all art & design students graduating between September 2025 – August 2026 (including Southern Hemisphere students graduating after September 2025), from anywhere in the world. ✅ Your chance to showcase your work to a global audience, be seen and judged by industry leaders, and share your creative journey alongside peers worldwide. In 2025, 5,174 students from 523 institutions worldwide took part. Over the past 6 years, the showcase has grown into the most important global platform for emerging creative talent, bringing together over 30,000 students from 700+ institutions, alongside 400 industry judges and 1.5 million public votes. Link /events/globalcreativegraduateshowcase Deadline: August 31st, 2026

TEX+ Submissions are OPEN 💙 TEX+ supports emerging textile graduates at the start of their professional journey. If you are graduating this year and are studying textile design- we’d love to see your work. Applications are now open. Apply via @artsthread #texplus #textilegraduates #textileindustry

We are delighted for the sixth year to be partnering with the International Real Leather. Stay Different. Student Design Competition 2026 @chooserealleather - a search for the best new designers around the globe and for those who want to promote slow style and a more sustainable future for fashion. THE BRIEF: Create an original, innovative, and visually stunning design, in one of three categories of apparel, accessories or footwear made from real cattle leather. THE PRIZE: Winners designs will form a part of the RLSD Capsule collection, which tours worldwide with the competition + all category winners will be invited to attend the final International judging event and selection of the International Design Competition’s overall winner +++ OPEN TO: Open globally to anyone studying fashion, textiles, design or craft-based subjects or who have graduated in the past year from art and design higher education. ENTRY: Free to apply DEADLINE TO APPLY: July 07 2026 🔗 Link to /competition-event/international-2026-competition/

Isdar is excited to launch a new Call Out for an Art Programme for emerging and mid-career artists in collaboration with Arts Thread, supported by the British Council. Click on the link on the bio to register. ————— يسرنا في مركز إصدار الفني الإعلان عن دعوة الفنانين الناشئين والممارسين للتسجيل في البرنامج الفني بالتعاون مع ArtThread وبدعم من المجلس الثقافي البريطاني اضغط على الرابط في البايو للتسجيل #printmaking #saudiartists #britishcouncil #silkscreen

Three days. 40 creatives. One powerful journey of growth, connection, and inspiration! At Design Link Camp (April 17–19, Zornića Kuća), we brought together 20 young talents from across Serbia — designers, architects, fashion creatives and more — alongside 20 selected online participants from across the Balkans, all united by a shared drive to grow, learn, and create. Through inspiring online lectures from UK experts via Arts Thread, participants learned from: Nick Chubb, Katie Dominy, Ged Equi, Jane Richardson, and Alex Brownless — diving into digital visibility, portfolio building, AI, entrepreneurship, and the future of creative work. With the guidance of mentors from Serbia — prof. Jelena Matić and Maja Lalić — ideas turned into action through collaborative workshops focused on purpose-driven design, sustainability, and bringing concepts to life. Thank you to @britishcouncilrs for supporting this initiative, and to @artsthread — our partner in delivering an outstanding masterclass series connecting our creatives with global knowledge and opportunities. And this is just the beginning… Next stop: Mikser Festival, Novi Pazar (June 5–7) — where these young creatives will step into the spotlight, presenting their upgraded portfolios shaped through this unique upskilling journey. Stay tuned — the future of Balkan creativity is just getting started. 🔥 📷: Jovan Mitrović 🙌 #DesignLinkCamp #MikserFestival #YoungCreatives #CreativeCommunity #BalkanCreatives ArtsThread BritishCouncil DesignFuture

Open now! 🌿 The Only Natural Student Design Competition🌿 @onlynatural_design We're calling on visionary designers to shake up the fashion and furniture & furnishings industry! Now is your chance to help redefine creativity in these sectors while celebrating the beauty and versatility of natural fibres. With five categories - Fashion Apparel, Fashion Accessories, Fashion Footwear, Home Furniture and Home Interiors - the competition is open to students and recent graduates from 2024 and 2025. This isn’t just about designing. It’s about making a difference. Deadline to enter: June 30 2026 Find out & Enter #onlynatural #studentdesigncomp #sustainablefuture #naturalfibres #designforchange #studentdesign #sustainabledesign

Our friends at @getredressed have a new call out!!! 📣 The Redress Design Award 2026 is now open for applications! 🏆✨ Calling all emerging fashion designers: Redress challenge you to design a contemporary collection for a modern, fashion-forward adult, using waste textiles and guided by circular design strategies. 🌏♻️👗 For this first stage of application, only 3 outfit sketches are required, and they may be designs that have already been made and debuted. Plus, just by entering, you get the chance to be part of the incredible @RedressAlumni Network receiving ongoing career support in sustainable fashion. 🫶 ✏️ Find out more and apply now at RedressDesignAward.com — link in @getredressed bio. Applications are open from now until 17 April 2026. We can't wait to see what you come up with! 💚 #RedressDesignAward

Design is not just what we create — it’s what we stand for. As part of the Design Link Camp, we’re opening a space for critical thinking and meaningful exchange through the workshop “Design with Purpose: Social and Environmental Responsibility”, moderated by Maja Lalić — architect and founder of Mikser, Young Balkan Designers and Next Gen Design platforms. With years of experience connecting emerging designers to international opportunities, Maja brings a perspective that goes beyond aesthetics — focusing on responsibility, collaboration, and the role of design in shaping more inclusive and sustainable futures. This session invites participants to question, reflect, and position their own practice within the broader social and environmental context — and to understand how design can actively contribute to change. 📍 Zornića Kuća, Barajevo 📅 18–19 April 2026 📝 Apply by 23 March If you believe design should matter — this is the conversation you want to be part of. 👉 Apply by March 23 (midnight) via the link in our profile section! ------------------------------------- Design Link is a hybrid upskilling program for young Balkan designers, connecting local talent with the international creative scene. Developed by @mikserbalkan and @artsthread and supported by the @britishcouncilrs it blends online and offline learning to boost skills, visibility, and industry connections. #DesignLink #YoungBalkanDesigners #WBUKCSDevFund #BritishCouncil #CreativeEconomyWB

From idea to reality — this is where design gets real. As part of the Design Link Camp, we’re bringing hands-on learning into focus through an in-person workshop on practical, manual and production skills, led by Jelena Matić — Professor at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Belgrade, and a dedicated mentor shaping new generations of designers through academia and Mikser’s Young Balkan Designers and Next Gen Design platforms. This workshop is designed for young creatives ready to move beyond concepts and into making — exploring materials, processes, and the realities of production. Through direct guidance and applied work, participants will gain insight into how ideas evolve into tangible, functional, and meaningful design outcomes. 📍 Zornića Kuća, Barajevo 📅 18–19 April 2026 📝 Apply by 23 March If you’re ready to sharpen your craft and understand what it really takes to bring ideas to life — this is where it starts. ------------------------------- Design Link is a hybrid upskilling program for young Balkan designers, connecting local talent with the international creative scene. Developed by @mikserbalkan and @artsthread and supported by the @britishcouncilrs it blends online and offline learning to boost skills, visibility, and industry connections. 👉 Apply by March 23 (midnight) via the link in our profile section! #DesignLink #YoungBalkanDesigners #WBUKCSDevFund #BritishCouncil #CreativeEconomyWB

We are proud to present our Design Link partners in UK - Katie Dominy & Alex Brownless, Co-Founders of Arts Thread & the Global Creative Graduate Showcase 🙌 Creative industry strategist and former fashion designer, Katie Dominy and Alex Brownless have spent over 15 years building one of the world’s leading platforms connecting emerging creative talent with global industry opportunities. Through Arts Thread and the Global Creative Graduate Showcase, they have created a vital bridge between education and professional practice—supporting thousands of young artists and designers in gaining visibility, developing careers, and navigating the evolving creative economy. At Design Link Camp, they will share insights on new work models, interdisciplinary collaboration, and how the next generation can position themselves within a rapidly changing, sustainability-driven global landscape. ------------------------------- Design Link is a hybrid upskilling program for young Balkan designers, connecting local talent with the international creative scene. Developed by @mikserbalkan and @artsthread and supported by the @britishcouncilrs it blends online and offline learning to boost skills, visibility, and industry connections. 👉 Apply by March 23 (midnight) via the link in profile! #DesignLink #YoungBalkanDesigners #WBUKCSDevFund #BritishCouncil #CreativeEconomyWB

We proudly present the speakers of our Design Link Camp! 🙌 Jane Richardson is a highly experienced senior recruiter and the founder of her own consultancy, Grafica, partnering with creative agencies and large international businesses to secure top-tier branding, marketing and digital talent across both the UK and the US. Having lived and worked in both markets, she brings a deep cross cultural understanding and a global perspective to every search. With a career spanning over 25 years, Jane has built a valuable and diverse professional network and is known for her thoughtful, relationship led approach. Her earlier career in the creative industry, as both a Graphic Designer and an Account Manager in client services, gives her rare insight into the roles she recruits, enabling her to identify talent with precision and credibility. Jane has led and grown large teams, and is passionate about developing people at every stage of their careers. She has trained, mentored and coached professionals across multiple disciplines, and is recognised for her ability to build long lasting, trusted relationships with both clients and candidates. ----------------------------- Design Link is a hybrid upskilling program for young Balkan designers, connecting local talent with the international creative scene. Developed by @mikserbalkan and @artsthread and supported by the @britishcouncilrs it blends online and offline learning to boost skills, visibility, and industry connections. 👉 Apply by March 23 (midnight) via the link in profile! #DesignLink #YoungBalkanDesigners #WBUKCSDevFund #BritishCouncil #CreativeEconomyWB

Meet the speakers of our Design Link Camp! 🙌 Alex Brownless has extensive experience working across creative education, fashion and design, and the global creative economy.. He is the co-founder of Arts Thread, the world’s leading portfolio platform for creative students and graduates, and the Global Creative Graduate Showcase. For more than 16 years, Alex has helped build Arts Thread into a global creative education ecosystem connecting over 1,000 universities across 130+ countries with industry, brands, and employers. His work focuses on supporting emerging creative talent through global visibility, career pathways, and industry engagement across fashion, design, and the wider creative economy. In 2020, he co-founded the Global Creative Graduate Showcase with Gucci, launching the world’s first large-scale online graduate showcase during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative has since showcased the work of 30,000+ creatives from more than 100 countries, supported by over 200 international industry judges. ---------------------------------- Design Link is a hybrid upskilling program for young Balkan designers, connecting local talent with the international creative scene. Developed by @mikserbalkan and @artsthread and supported by the @britishcouncilrs it blends online and offline learning to boost skills, visibility, and industry connections. 👉 Apply by March 23 (midnight) via the link in profile! #DesignLink #YoungBalkanDesigners #WBUKCSDevFund #BritishCouncil #CreativeEconomyWB