Troy, Michigan, May 21, 2014 – A dress made of Inteva Inteather™, a premium automotive interior material was announced as the Grand Prize winner in the “Samurai: Beyond the Armor” Design Competition hosted by the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) and the Detroit Garment Group Guild (DG3). The design competition was inspired by the DIA “Samurai: Beyond the Sword” exhibition running through June 1. The announcement was made at a fashion show at the DIA on Saturday, May 17.

The Inteva Inteather™ dress was designed by Janna Coumoundouros, of Lilacpop Studio in Ferndale, Mich. “Beyond the Armor” challenged designers to create a complete outfit based on artwork on display within the Samurai exhibition. Coumoundouros was one of 10 fashion designers selected as finalists from hundreds of entrants who submitted design drawings.

Inteather™ was used as the primary material for her bold design which was accented by Inteva’s decorative stitch.

“Working with the Inteva sewing team and using Inteather™ allowed my design to evolve more closely reflect the regal nature of the Samurai armor,” said Coumoundouros, “it’s formability helped inspire my creativity resulting in an award winning design. The finished design has a real sculptural quality.”

Inteva provided the material, as well as technical support and access to the Inteva Sewing Lab in Troy, Michigan, for fabrication of her dress for the competition. More than 100 square feet of Inteather™ was used to create the dress, which also features Inteva’s advanced stitching technologies.

The dress will be modeled at the WardsAuto Interiors Conference on Wednesday, May 21 in Dearborn, Michigan.