Drexel’s Varvara ‘Bobby’ Diakonenkova wins 2025 Supima Design Competition

Supima, the non-profit luxury brand dedicated to promoting American-grown Pima cotton, has named Varvara ‘Bobby’ Diakonenkova of Drexel University as the winner of the 2025 Supima Design Competition. 

This year marked a new era for Supima as it united its annual Supima Design Competition and Supima Design Lab into one evening on November 5 at Lavan Studios in New York City, hosted by photographer and fashion icon, Nigel Barker.

The event featured presentation-style showcases from the 2025 Supima Design Competition finalists, Festival d’Hyères finalists, and leading international designers, all of whom crafted collections using Supima’s American-grown Pima cotton.

The night culminated with Diakonenkova’s win, recognizing her eveningwear capsule collection for its craftsmanship, originality, and forward-thinking interpretation of Supima cotton. 

Finalists in this year’s competition included Caroline Hill of Kent State University; Emma Gonzalez Pini of Parsons School of Design; Griselda Peña Candelario of Pratt Institute; and Isabel Weiss of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

A panel of judges evaluated the finalists’ work, including industry leaders Abby Silverman, Avril Graham, Danya Issawi, Evan Hirsch, Fern Mallis, Freya Drohan, Jerome Lamaar, Jian DeLeon, Kevin Huynh, Lisa Lockwood, Mandy Lee, Mickey Boardman, Natalie Lim Suarez, Nicole Chapoteau, and Tiffany Reid.

The Supima Design Lab also spotlighted global talent through collections by the 2025 Festival d’Hyères finalists and leading international designers.