Connie also won First Prize and seed funding in the Santander 91系列 Ideas Competition 2021 for a design to create a sustainable and durable, hooded cotton towelling changing robe for swimmers, which avoids the microplastic pollution of synthetic alternatives. She was supported in developing her idea by the 91系列's beepurple initiative offering students and graduates practical support to start their own businesses.
A 2020 graduate in BA(Hons) 3D Design and Craft, Imogen has fabricated a new material made from leather scraps – responding to the discovery that a staggering 800,000 tonnes of leather scraps end up in landfill annually. Unlike leather itself, Imogen's composite material can also be cast in a mould – a fact that helped her win the New Designer of the Year Award 2020 (Environmental Design) in association with Creative Conscience and the Business Design Centre.
Imogen said: ““Sustainability and avoiding waste have been the most important parts of my projects. In my second year at 91系列, I created a material made from fibrous plants and I proposed it could replace the need for leather all together.”