Loden
jacket or leggings, airport or festival, routine or freedom? The motto of the
European Fashion
Award – FASH 2009 was “New Diversity”. It is an annual design competition held
by the Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie – SDBI (German
Fashion Industry Foundation). A jury of
international, experienced experts from design, industry, marketing, media and
retail selected
the winners from 101 entries of nine countries according to specific criteria. The award
ceremony was held on February 1st at the international sporting goods exposition ispo winter
09 in Munich.
The 1st
Prize in the category “Students” went to Marcel
Lunkwitz und Julia Müller
(Burg Giebichenstein
– University of Art and Design Halle) for their
innovative and emotion-charged men’s
collection “Where the clouds are like headlines”. Ilona Zaytseva
(University Pforzheim), who was
also among the winners in 2008, received 2nd Prize with her high-quality,
autonomous collection
“Hoolifans”.
In the
category “Graduates” 1st Prize was awarded to Marianne Musek
(Berlin University of the Arts).
Pilgrimage helped her to reflect on the design of her collection for men and
women, “The Quest for
Happiness”. Pilgrims need function more than fashion. Nevertheless function is
in fashion. This
determination was the starting point for this collection of traditional attire
and performance
sportswear. 2nd Prize was awarded to Nicole Manz
(University Niederrhein,
Mönchengladbach)
for her women’s collection “Cocooned Solitude – when
safety keeps you imprisoned”,
offering mobile retreats. Adrian Sommerauer (Royal College of Art,
London) won 3rd Prize
with his elegant, yet melancholy men’s collection “London,
Heimat #3”. Special Mention went to Wenke Müller
(Burg Giebichenstein – University of Art and Design Halle)
for her collection
with ten profiles, ten images of womanhood, ten “Dreams of My
Self”.
The award
winners refuse to follow fashion edicts or interchangeable lifestyle trends. The
projects work with
new images of Man and Woman and create modern ways of living. Everyday life and the streets
with all their contrasts inspired the young designers as much as traditional craftsmanship.
For them, fashion is more than just apparel – it is an emotional investment. “The level
of the award-winning projects of the European Fashion Awards FASH 2009 is on an
international
scale. They compare with the collections of globally renowned up-and-coming designers,”
says jury member Martin Leuthold,
Art Director
of Jakob Schlaepfer and designer of fabrics for
fashion houses such as Akris, Chanel or Marc Jacobs.
Jury member Jean Kress, who worked for Dior, Lanvin and Guy Laroche
before becoming Head of Design at Quiksilver Europe, commended
the entries: “These students have a much more modern view of fashion than many
members of
the industry.”
The prizes
included cash totaling 10,000 Euro, three textile vouchers provided by the
Swiss Textile Federation
valued at a total of 4,500 Euro, as well as paid, six-month internships at
Akris (St. Gallen,
Switzerland) a couture house
known all over the world, and Craft (Borås, Sweden), the pioneer of
function apparel.
Renowned
photographer Christin Losta portrayed the award-winning
designs. The German-English documentation
“New Diversity – Fashion students and their visions” is published by Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz.
The
European Fashion Award FASH has been presented by the Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie
– SDBI (German Fashion Industry Foundation) annually since 2005. It targets
exceptionally talented students from all areas of design in their fourth
semester or later. The SDBI was
founded by fashion entrepreneur Klaus Steilmann in 1978. Its goal is the
progressive endorsement
of new talent. In 2008, the location initiative by the German government and
business world
“Deutschland – Land der Ideen” (“Germany – Land of Ideas”) honoured
the non-profit organization.
The
portfolios of all award-winning designs are available to public view at the
world’s largest library and
graphics collection for fashion and textiles, the Lipperheidesche Kostümbibliothek
in Berlin.
More
information
www.sdbi.de Press Contact For more
information, award winner contact data and image material, please contact:
Joachim Schirrmacher
Head of
Project Management/Advisory Board Chairman
Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie
T +49 (0) 40 25 31 88 60
schirrmacher@sdbi.de
