Clayton CoutriersWhy do you design outfits in CmiA?

“When the initiative Cotton made in Africa and Tchibo asked me if I wanted to design a collection for them, I didn’t have to think about it for long! It gave me the opportunity to work with an European company and to present the beauty of my country, South Africa, at the same time. By cooperating with Tchibo I have the chance to support trade with Africa and it gives me the great pleasure to be able to contribute to the success of the Cotton made in Africa initiative.”

The cooperation with Tchibo is Clayton Emile Coutriers’ first international experience. Coutriers: “It was very exciting to create a collection together with a German company for the European market and thus be able to present how modern and contemporary design of South Africa can look like.” The young artist is convinced that the South African design culture has a good outlook to inspire the international market.

Coutriers spent his childhood in a rural area of South Africa. The variety of flora and fauna as well as the beauty of the changing seasons have influenced his work. A strong link to nature is clearly visible in all his designs. He is convinced that it is especially important to work responsibly with raw materials like Cotton made in Africa or to use natural colorants like beetroot.

Coutriers’ engagement for sustainability and the preservation of nature has already been awarded. With his cushion collection “Dance of a Thousand Seasons” the young artist won the “Green Designers competition” that was set up by Woolworth and the magazine House & Leisure in 2009. At the end of 2011 the young designer will be graduating from “Tshwane University of Technology” in Pretoria in South Africa where he lives.