The grand tour of aristocratic sons in the 18th century, the dramatic music of Schubert’s “Winterreise” and street art with its graffiti are a few of the sources of inspiration of the winning works of the Prize of the Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie 2007 (German Apparel Industry Foundation). The topic of the European-wide design contest is “The Fine Art of Travelling”. Regardless of whether business trip or sports vacation, first class or economy – we were looking for travel fashion that meets the multifaceted demands of travelers.
The prize is presented annually for changing topics by the German Apparel Industry Foundation. The goal of the foundation founded in 1977 is pioneering promotion of the next generation.
Entries were also requested for the Special Award “Fashion Branding”, which was awarded in collaboration with the brand consulting company Interbrand Zintzmeyer & Lux. Designs for functional luggage were also sought in cooperation with the luggage manufacturer Tumi.
A total of 68 works were submitted by 114 students from 14 countries.

The list of the prizewinners and the prizes, a detailed description of the award-winning works and the reasons given by the jury are in the appendix.

Jury’s Report

The winning works are distinguished not only by the outstanding designs, but also by an understanding of what traveling means. Lisa Stroux (1st Prize: Special Award Luggage), who designed a combination of suitcase and coat, discovered in her research that English businessmen and women spend an average of 8.5 years on trips. They do this mostly in uniform suits, which – although they are considered standard worldwide – hardly correspond to the needs of travelers. Batmunkh Bataas’ (3rd Prize Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie) women’s and men’s collection “4 Kilos – 4 Season” also found an answer to changed needs.
The Korean Mi-kyong Yeom (1st Prize Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie), whose inspiration was the dramatic music of Schubert’s “Winterreise” and Arnold Gevers (3rd Prize Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie), who took a grand tour himself to Paris and St. Petersburg, emphasize the experiences of a trip, which alternate between joy and pain, fun and difficulties, acting and accepting. It is precisely this tension that makes a trip and the resulting invigorating forces appealing.
Gevers believes that the peculiarities of people are an expression of modernity. Consequently, he wants “to provide wearers with a strong emotional identity” with his collection created from the subjective perceptions of his trip. The work of Karen Scholz and Joan Tarragó Pampalona (2nd Prize Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie), who transfer the graffiti culture from building walls to clothing and luggage, is a plea for discovering, exploring and becoming conscious far from standardized pictures and uniform expectations. “Many of the submissions on the topic of ‘The Fine Art of Travelling’ show poetic designs, which contrast the uniformity of mass products with their subjective reality and are still surprisingly wearable,” jury member Joachim Schirrmacher stated.

The jury argued about the significance of trends in its discussions. If a designer wants to have a job in the fashion industry, he must have a feeling for trends. In the end, however, the ability to design a collection with a strong identity is more esteemed, because an increasing number of products look the same in our globalized society and people are searching for orientation.

Special Award Fashion Branding

Fashion creates identity, and identity is considered a competitive strategy of the future. In spite of this great significance, there has been surprisingly little known about how these identities can be structured strategically in the field of tension of continual change in fashion and the required continuity of brands. This was also made clear in the submitted works.
“People do not understand that a brand presence is not entirely contained in a logo, but instead that strong brands are also characterized by strong ideas. It is the driving force for the visual piece of clothing," Gion-Men Krügel-Hanna from cooperation partner Interbrand Zintzmeyer & Lux stated. The situation is different in the work "Drawellink Places” by Karen Scholz und Joan Tarragó Pampalona, which was awarded the 1st prize of the special award "Fashion Branding". It is convincing, because the brand idea is the focal point. Regardless of whether clothes, bags or accessories, the idea was implemented appropriately in all areas (also refer to the jury reasons).

Special Award Luggage

No fashionable accessories were submitted for the Special Award Luggage, presented in collaboration with the luggage manufacturer Tumi, but instead items of use and culture, which correspond to the needs of users for modular, easy-to-use, light, stable and novel luggage at the same time. Lisa Stroux (1st Prize) created “Suitable” a novel combination of suitcase and coat, which holds everything required for a three-day business trip. Oliver Reinecke (2nd Prize) designed the suitcase “Transit”, which contains a light, textile dresser. And Anna Steinmann (3rd Prize) designed “Yoga”, a variable suitcase that you can make small or large depending on whether intended for three days or three weeks. The bags conform to the regulations for hand luggage of airline companies despite all the innovations. “The winning works demonstrate the high standard in education for industrial designers. The young designs have demonstrated the ability to design novel and surprising products, find suitable materials for them and construct professional prototypes,” Timm Fenton, Vice President of Design at Tumi, New York, stated.

Following the exhibition at ispovision in Munich, the works will be presented at the Travel Goods Show (Feb. 27 – March 1) in Las Vegas, NV, – one of the most important trade fairs for luggage – as well as in selected Tumi stores worldwide.
The documentation of the winning works will be accessible to the public in the world’s largest library and graphic art collection about focussing on the cultural history of fashion and clothing, the Lipperheideschen Kostümbibliothek in Berlin.

You can find background information about the contest, etc. at
www.stiftung-bekleidungsindustrie.


Media contact

For additional Information, Contacts to the prizewinners and pictures please contact:

Gunther Bauer
Marketing und Kommunikation
Konsumgüter
Messe München GmbH 
gunther.bauer@messe-muenchen.de
Tel.: (+49 89) 949 20 610

Joachim Schirrmacher
Vorsitzender des Beirates
Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie
mail@joachim-schirrmacher.de
Tel.: (+49 40) 253 18 860



Prizes and Prizewinners 2007

Prizes worth more than 38,000 euros were awarded

Prize of the Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie 2007

1st Prize: Mi-kyong Yeom, Universität der Künste Berlin/ Berlin University of the Arts
3,000 euros
Six-month paid internship at Akris, St. Gallen
Fabric voucher worth 750 euros from Swiss Textiles

2nd Prize: Karen Scholz, Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee/School of Art and Design Berlin
Joan Tarragó Pampalona, Facultat Belles Art de Barcelona
2,000 euros
Six-month paid internship at Quiksilver/Roxy, for Karen Scholz
Fabric voucher worth 750 euros from Swiss Textiles

3rd Prize: Batmunkh Bataa, Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee/School of Art and Design Berlin-Weißensee
1,000 euros
Six-month paid internship at Mover Sportswear SA (Lausanne), voucher for fabric worth 750 euros from Swiss Textiles

3rd Prize: Arnold Gevers, Hochschule für Künste Bremen/ University Of The Arts Bremen
1,000 euros
Fabric voucher worth 750 euros from Swiss Textiles

Special Mention: Dorothea Hansen, Hochschule für Gestaltung Technik und Wirtschaft, Pforzheim/ Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences
500 euros
Freitag bag F 12
Fabric voucher worth 750 euros from Swiss Textiles
Special Mention: Katrin Sergejew, Angewandte Kunst Schneeberg, Fachbereich der Westsächsischen Hochschule Zwickau (FH)/ Applied Arts Schneeberg
Academic Department of the Zwickau University of Applied Sciences.
500 euros
Freitag bag F 12
Fabric voucher worth 750 euros from Swiss Textiles

Fabric voucher worth 750 euros from Swiss Textiles:
Carolin Petersen, Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg/University of Applied Sciences
Team „Liebes Fernweh“, Fachhochschule Hannover/University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover
Luisa Hirsch, Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee/School of Art and Design Berlin-Weißensee


Special Award Fashion Branding
1st Prize: Karen Scholz, Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee/School of Art and Design Berlin-Weißensee
Joan Tarragó Pampalona, Facultat Belles Art de Barcelona
2,000 euros
Six-month paid internship at Interbrand Zintzmeyer & Lux for Joan Tarragó Pampalona


Special Award Luggage
1st Prize: Lisa Stroux, Royal College of Art, London
2,000 euros
Fabric voucher worth 750 euros from Swiss Textiles

2nd Prize: Oliver Reinecke, Burg Giebichenstein Hochschule für Kunst und Design, Halle/ University of Art and Design, Halle
1,000 euros
six-month paid internship at the headquarters of Tumi New York/New Jersey

3rd Prize: Anna Steinmann, Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee/School of Art and Design Berlin-Weißensee
750 Euro

Special Mention: Jannita van den Haak, Design Academy Eindhoven
500 euros
Freitag bag F 12

Thanks to the support of ispovision, Trade Show for Sports-Inspired Fashion, the prizewinners will receive numerous communication services such as a trade fair booth, a catalogue and the award ceremony within the framework of ispovision. They are presenting their work to more than 60,000 visitors at trade fair and more than 2,000 international journalists.
Dr.Hauschka Skincare sponsored high-quality Natural Cosmetics for the Guest and Pricewinners of the Award Ceremony.


Jury
 
A jury composed of internationally experienced experts from design, industry, marketing, media and retail selected the prizewinners according to set criteria.

Timm Fenton, Vice President of Design at Tumi, New York

Susanne Fischer, Marketing Manager for Central Europe, Timberland, Munich

Marcel Herrig, Unicut Design Office, Shenzen, China

Albert Kriemler, Designer Akris, St. Gallen

Gion-Men Krügel-Hanna, Senior Designer at Interbrand Zintzmeyer & Lux, Zurich

Claudia Leske, Manager, Alsterhaus – KarstadtQuelle AG, Hamburg

Joachim Schirrmacher, Editor-in-Chief of Style in Progress, Hamburg

Joyce Thornton, Generation Now Editor, WGSN, London