Gargi Agrawalla, a final-year Product Design and Technology student at Loughborough University in England, has emerged as the winner of an international competition to design jewelry that complements cochlear implants and hearing aids. The competition aims to raise essential funds for Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK), a charity supporting deaf children.
Her winning design, titled the Junkyard Dog Flower, has been transformed into jewelry by the award-winning creators at DeafMetal. The pieces are now being sold to help raise money for AVUK.
Gargi shared her excitement about the win, stating, “I’m thrilled to have won with a design that reflects my personal journey, from wearing hearing aids to receiving cochlear implants as a child. It celebrates the layered nature of identity, resilience, and beauty.”
Diagnosed as profoundly deaf as a baby, Gargi wore hearing aids until she received cochlear implants at age 12. Her design features a hand-sketched flower illustration, UV printed on white leather, symbolizing growth and transformation.
The jewelry is designed to be worn with both cochlear implants and hearing aids, with a matching coil ‘hat’ piece. “I wanted my design to be vibrant and resilient, just like the deaf community,” Gargi explained. “Flowers represent growth, transformation, and individuality, much like the journey of hearing loss. This design turns assistive devices into symbols of pride and style.”
The competition, a collaboration between DeafMetal and AVUK, celebrates the role of hearing technology in helping deaf children and adults access sound. It provided aspiring designers with the chance to create jewelry that integrates with hearing technology like cochlear implants and hearing aids.
Designers were encouraged to use their personal style and experiences for inspiration. This echoed the approach of judge Tasha Ghouri, who wore jewelry on her cochlear implants during the recent season of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, incorporating gems and accessories into her costumes.
DeafMetal, which creates award-winning jewelry for hearing device users, was founded by a fashion designer who began wearing hearing aids in 2018. AVUK provides Auditory Verbal therapy to deaf children, helping them process sounds from hearing technology and develop spoken language skills to communicate like their hearing peers.
The competition’s judging panel included Tasha Ghouri, AVUK CEO Anita Grover (a cochlear implant user), and Jenni Ahtiainen, CEO of DeafMetal.
Gargi’s design is one of two available for purchase on the DeafMetal website, with 20% of the proceeds going to AVUK to support more deaf children across the UK.
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