Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz must be one of the nicest guys in fashion. Just two weeks before his runway show, one of his busiest times of the year, the designer made a pit stop at Première Vision. He was there to present $1,500 awards to five young textile designers for their work in conjunction with Texprint, a showcase for textile graduates from various English universities. (A section of Indigo, Texprint is held concurrently with PV.) But before he announced the winners, Elbaz visited all 24 exhibitors, making sure he spoke with each about their designs. He even stuck around to cut a cake in celebration of Texprint’s 10th anniversary at Indigo. Alas, no sweets for the slimmed-down designer. “I’m on a protein diet,” he said with a chuckle.
Prior to the show, the five winners were selected by a panel of designers and textile leaders that included Christopher Bailey, creative director of Burberry; Liz Griffiths, director of Missoni’s knitting design studio, and Alice Temperley of Temperley London.
According to Elbaz, the presentation was a chance for him to catch a rising star. “Life is not only about creating a collection,” said the designer, dressed in a blue chalk stripe suit paired with gray zippered sneakers. “Personally, I am dying for new ideas in prints. We all love Art Deco and Art Nouveau and polkadots, but I would like to see prints that reflect what life is about today — things that are new instead of just repeating the past. I love flowers, but I’d rather smell them than see them on a dress.”
Apparently, Elbaz liked what he saw at the show: He bought five different patterns from one of the designers, whose name he refused to divulge. Here, the five winners.
Rosie De Borman, Print Prize: “Rosie has a great understanding of different techniques, and I love her etchings,” said judge Temperley, in a statement. For her winning design, De Borman was inspired by a dog cemetery located near Paris. “I thought the place was quite charming, actually,” said the University of Brighton graduate. “There was a real sentimentality to it all.” Her textiles are appropriately dark yet sweet, with sketched interpretations of dogs and the cemetery, as well as name etches, such as Fifi, which the designer culled from the pets’ tombstones.
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Patricia McAree, Knit Prize: “Patricia has an individual approach and experiments with new ideas and techniques,” said Missoni’s Griffiths. McAree, a graduate of The Royal Academy of Art London, created her textured, multidimensional knits by inlaying one technique onto another. She explained that she started with a multicolored flat ground and then inlaid chunkier, fringe-like yarns into it.
Alice Lodge, Weave Prize: Lodge’s collection of seamless jacquard pieces, many of which were shaped into finished garments, were chosen by judge and Belgian designer Jean-Paul Knott for a complex technology rarely used in wovens. “I like to call it fashion-garment engineering,” said Lodge, also a graduate of The Royal Academy of Art London. “The process eliminates the need to cut a pattern because all the pleating, ruching and shaping are part of the construction.” Lodge created necklines and arm shapes for many pieces, and even wove a drawstring into some, resulting in one-size-fits-all garments.
Ella Robinson, Color Prize: Donatella Ratti, president and ceo of Italian fabric house Ratti, chose Robinson for this award because of her “beautiful sense of color, and extraordinary use of different media,” she said. Robinson, a Loughborough University graduate, created multimedia pieces with bright polyester and cotton shirting fabrics, as well as cork, wood and plastic. First cutting by hand, Robinson then layered the materials with glue, creating an accordian-like texture.
Saori Okabe, Breaking New Ground Prize: “Saori’s work is very masterful,” said Burberry’s Bailey in a statement. “Her black-and-white drawings are spectacular. I love her incredibly sophisticated sense of place, mixing Japanese and European influences.” A graduate of the Edinburgh College of Art, Okabe said she channeled different cultures for her layered stencils and fine drawings. “For color, I look to Edinburgh, and for design, I look to Japan,” Okabe said.