European Fashion Award FASH 2016 / 31. August 2015

New Member of the Jury: Sébastien Meunier, Artistic Director Ann Demeulemeester

Sébastien Meunier, Artistic Director of Ann Demeulemeester, is member of the jury of the European Fashion Award FASH 2016. The French designer Sebastien Meunier was named Artistic Director of Ann Demeulemeester in 2013, having designed the men’s collection in-house since 2010.

More

FASH 2015 / 6. July 2015

European Fashion Award FASH 2015 Presented To Six Young Designers. 10 Years European Fashion Award.

Six young up and coming design students and graduates received the European Fashion Award FASH 2015 during the kick-off for the Berlin Fashion Week. On Monday evening, witnessed by 250 invited guests, the non-profit Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie (German Fashion Industry Foundation), in short SDBI, presented the awards valued at a total of 80,000 Euro at the impressive Neue Museum (New Museum) in Berlin, one of UNESCO’s world heritage sites. More

FASH 2015 / 6. July 2015

10 Years European Fashion Award

Speech by Tobias Gröber, Chairman
Full Version

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Winners:
Today marks the 10th presentation of our newcomer designer award, the European Fashion Award FASH. The award started out with modest beginnings and gained a lot of strength along the way.
The non-profit “Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie” (Germany Fashion Industry Foundation), in short SDBI, was founded in 1978 by Klaus Steilmann, at the time Europe’s largest manufacturer of women’s fashion. When Messe München took over the Modewoche München (Munich Fashion Week) in 1996, we also voluntarily took on the management of SDBI. Until 2004 the foundation provided direct endorsement for a small circle of talented students. There was hardly any public relations activity or follow-up support. In 2004 we tasked Joachim Schirrmacher with the reorganization to better meet the challenges of our increasingly more global, faster and more complex world of fashion. More

European Fashion Award FASH 2015 / 12. June 2015

Award Ceremony European Fashion Award FASH 2015 on the Occasion of Berlin Fashion Week

Exhibition and Award Ceremony of the European Fashion Award FASH 2015 on the occasion of Berlin Fashion Week. The award purse totals 80,000 Euro. The presentation takes place in the impressive premises of  Neues Museum, part of the World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Winners European Fashion Award FASH 2015
Tomasz Szadel, Kunsthochschule Berlin Weißensee
Lukas Fischer, FH Bielefeld
Julia Kleeblatt, Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle
Kai Gerhardt, Universität der Künste Berlin
Lilly Bosse, Hochschule für Künste Bremen
Ulf Brauner, Universität der Künste Berlin

Exhibition and Award Ceremony European Fashion Award FASH 2015
Monday, July 6th, 2015, 5.30 – 7.30 pm
Neues Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Museumsinsel Berlin
Bodestraße 1-3
10178 Berlin / Mitte

By personal invitation only!

The European Fashion Award FASH is considered one of the most important international endorsement awards for fashion students. It is an annual competition by the not-for-profit Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie (German Fashion Industry Foundation), in short SDBI. Klaus Steilmann, at the time Europe’s largest manufacturer of women’s fashion, founded SDBI in 1978.www.sdbi.de

Column, Magazin Z of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung / 24. May 2015

Next, Please! The Future For Fashion Design Talents

Fashion has evolved into a merciless mastery gobbling up everything that is fresh and new. The youngest are particularly affected when it comes to finding new talent. Companies like H&M or luxury syndicates like Kering and LVMH hold high-caliber award competitions to find the best of the best. And the Fashion Weeks – whether in London or Paris, New York or Milan – use every fathomable method to search for young talents, hoping to gain a firm hold on tomorrow’s stars. Even governments invest millions to endorse the young designers. Paris alone invests 57 million Euros in three fashion schools; New York endorses small companies to allow them to maintain their production in the metropolitan city.
It seems like young fashion design students have never had as many opportunities as they have today. Yet, while in the past the media interest was followed by professional success, today’s attention span is shorter than the light of a shooting star. The name of the latest newcomer is on everyone’s lips for just a few minutes, until the next one takes its place. Even the buyers want only the latest hype. The new talents have become a part of our entertainment, and are thrown to the dogs when it’s time to say: Next, please! It is almost impossible for anyone to become established under these conditions.
However, this also means that there is a lack of visions for the future of fashion; we are smothered by recurring revivals of the best sellers. A vicious cycle. When the fight for attention is no longer successful, why not try to change strategy? Instead of trying to face the media storm with one’s own label right after graduation, why not work a few years in a team for one of the great designers? This is where the up and coming talents can gain experience and contacts, instead of paving their way to disappointment. Fresh shoots will then turn into strong trees – under the radar.
Of course, it is not always easy to find that kind of job. To help out, the Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie (German Fashion Industry Foundation), whose work I have been voluntarily managing for the last ten years, launched a mentoring program that pairs award winners with young designers. This allows them to communicate on level ground and answer their burning questions: How can I set up a good portfolio? How did you launch your career? What are human resource managers like? And the new designers have the opportunity to benefit from the already better-established designers’ network to gain contact to everything from companies, competitions, fabric suppliers, photographers, bloggers and more. This has already opened quite a few doors. If you want to support us in this effort, please do! You can also help by not just pushing like on Facebook or Instagram, but by purchasing fashion items created by a young designer once a year. Actions like that would go a long way.
 
First published (in German): SDBI Director Joachim Schirrmacher in his regular column “Wahrgenommen” for Magazin Z of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, May 24, 2015

European Fashion Award FASH 2016 / 20. May 2015

Change

We are on the eve of a new era. The European Fashion Award FASH 2016 with the subject “Change” is searching for visions of a new era.
Wars, conflicts and catastrophes are not the only issues that change the way we view our world. There is no question: Digitalisation and globalisation enhance and facilitate our life, yet they also have a fundamental impact on the world. Smartphones make every networking attempt of the past look like a simple prelude. The start-up culture, shareconomy, co-creation, crowdsourcing and swapping, as well as the disruptive business models of international investors have created a completely new kind of economy. Hardly any industry remains unaffected by this change.
How can fashion react to all these changes? Should there be more adaptation, subversive strategies, or should we dream completely new dreams? Who will ride the wave of change and claim the future? More