MANGO International Fashion Awards 2007

MANGO International Fashion Awards will give young designers throughout the world the opportunity to participate in an international Fashion Design competition.

The contest, which will take place every 18 months, has the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Catalan Government, and five of the most important Fashion Design Schools in Europe. The aim of this event is that young fashion designers have access to a new media platform, as well as the opportunity to commercialize their collections.

The five Fashion Design Schools supporting MANGO in this event are:
The Institut Français de la Mode, Paris; Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, London; Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen (The Royal Academy of Fine Arts), Antwerp; Istituto Marangoni, Milan; and the Escola Superior de Disseny, ESDi, Barcelona.

The Schools will have the following functions:
-- Form part of the jury which will shortlist the 10 finalists out of the 50 candidates previously selected by the MANGO Committee.
-- Form part of the Final Jury.


Requirements for Participants

The MANGO International Fashion Awards are open to young fashion designers worldwide who comply with these three fundamental requirements:
-- They should be no more than 35 years of age.
-- They must provide evidence that they have sold their collection commercially (even if on a small scale). This could be a copy of a commercial invoice, a letter from a customer verifying that they bought their collection, or a document proving their participation in an international trade show.
-- Participants have the right to remain anonymous until they reach the stage of the 10 finalists (stage 3). At this point the 10 finalists must reveal their identity.

Requirements to Enter the Competition

Stage 1
The aim of this stage is that all applicants provide evidence of their work as practicing fashion designers. In addition, all applicants are asked to provide some new original design works for a future collection they might produce.

The MANGO Commission (see Selection Process) will shortlist 50 candidates out of the applicants at the first stage, which will go on to stage 2.

All applicants must submit the following:

1. Application form and supporting information
--Official application form which can be downloaded from the website of the contest: http://www.mangofashionawards.com
-- Curriculum Vitae (no photo required) maximum 2 sides of A4 paper.
-- A motivation letter in which the applicant states their reasons for entering the contest and their plans for the future in the design industry (300 words max.).

2. Evidence of previous work as a practicing fashion designer
-- Evidence of having designed two previous women's wear commercial collections by means of photographs, film, look-books, collection books (with fabrics, color samples and technical drawings), press cuttings (copies), or whichever sound evidence. A total of at least 10 outfits from each collection should be included.
-- Some artistic sketches from these collections and a collection book.
-- A short written description of each collection, the date of the collection and their inspiration (300 words max.).

3. New design work by the applicant
-- A draft of 10 outfits of women's wear for Spring/Summer '08 which they would present for the final of the contest
-- A signed statement indicating that the designer holds all the rights over the designs presented and that no limitation and/or charge on the said rights exist.

The above material can only be presented in physical format and should not exceed 20 A4 sheets, apart from DVDs, look books, press books, etc. All texts to be submitted to the contest must be written in English, the official language of the contest. Applications not fulfilling all the required information will not be admitted to the contest.

The above said material must be sent by registered mail to the following address:

PUNTO FA, S.L. (Sociedad Unipersonal),
Fao: Secretary of "El Botón",
MANGO International Fashion Awards
c /Mercaders, 9-1
Polígono Industrial Riera de Caldes
08184 Palau-solità i Plegamans
Barcelona (SPAIN)

The admission of applications will start on 30th November 2006 and will be closed on 2nd February 2007. Therefore all applications must arrive at the above address on or before 1st February 2007.

Stage 2
The first Jury (see Selection Process) will select 10 finalists from the 50 short listed candidates, who will go on to the third stage of the contest.
At this stage, the 50 short listed candidates should present the following documentation:
-- A further development of the artistic sketch of each of the 10 outfits of women's wears for Spring/Summer '08 already presented in step 1.
-- Some specification drawings, technical drawings, fabrics, colors, as well as some ideas on trimmings.
-- A short written description of the collection and its source of inspiration (300 words max.),

Stage 3
Each of the 10 finalists will receive a sum of 18,000 Euros to create their collection in a period of four months from 3rd May 2007 (see Contest Calendar). These collections will appear in a Fashion Show before the Jury at the Final Ceremony.

Final Stage of the Contest

The finalists will present their collections at the culminating event of the contest: the Final Ceremony. The overall winner will be selected by the Final Jury following the Fashion Show which will last 2 days.

Conditions of Participation

1. The presentation at the contest implies necessarily the unconditional and complete acceptation of the present rules
2. The Applicants guarantee the authorship of the designs presented as well as their worldwide originality and newness, with total indemnity for PUNTO FA, S.L. Should any of the designers be found guilty of plagiarism, they will be automatically disqualified. Moreover, the Applicants guarantee that no limitation rights in the exploitation of their designs exist and that their designs are not submitted to another contest in course. The Applicants expressly consent that their designs are exploited in the event of being awarded or a finalist.
3. The official language of the contest is English which must be used at all stages of the contest.
4. The Applicants engage to not withdraw from the contest.
5. The decisions of the judges are final and not subject to any appeal.
6. It is clearly stated that the prize cannot be shared between two or more finalists and that the jury can declare the competition void.
7. In compliance with the Organic Law 15/1999, regarding Personal Data Protection, PUNTO FA, S.L. will handle any personal data received from Applicants according to the said legislation and especially engages to adopt the adequate measures to guarantee the secrecy of personal database. The measures to be undertaken will be directly related to the current technology, the nature of personal data stored and the eventual risks they are exposed to either by human action, and/or environment action.
8. The work submitted by the ten finalists will be returned to their authors in a period of no longer than 30 days following the closure of the contest.
9. The work submitted by all participants will be destroyed once the contest is over, with the exception of that of the final 50 candidates, to whom their designs will be returned following the final ceremony and showroom.
10. For any issues arising under/or in connection with these rules, the parties hereby expressly submit to the jurisdiction of Barcelona Courts.

Selection Process

(i) The MANGO Commission
MANGO will appoint a commission which will be made up by the following persons:
-- The President of the Company
-- The Creative Director
-- The Head of the Design Department
-- The Head of the Sales Department
-- The Head of the Purchasing Department
-- The Head of the Communication Department

The MANGO Commission will be responsible for the initial selection of 50 candidates at stage 1 of the contest.

(ii) The First Jury
At the second stage of the contest, the jury will include, in addition to the five representatives of the Design Schools, some representatives of MANGO as well as some members of the Final Jury

The First Jury will include:
-- Five representatives of the participating Design Schools
-- Three representatives of prestigious fashion labels
-- Two MANGO representatives
-- A fashion magazine director

The First Jury will select 10 finalists from the 50 short listed candidates, who will go on to the final stage of the contest. Each of these 10 finalists will receive the sum of Ð18, 000 from MANGO to create their collection. They will receive the first half of the money following their selection and the second half when they present their collection before the jury.

(iii) The Final Jury
The Final Jury will be formed by:
-- An Honorary President
-- An International Designer, who will act as the Chairperson of the contest
-- Five representatives of the participating Design Schools
-- Three representatives of prestigious fashion labels
-- Two MANGO representatives
-- A fashion magazine director
-- A reputable fashion critic
-- A fashion icon, well-known within the Spanish society

The 10 finalists will present their collections at the Fashion Show of the final ceremony, following which the Final Jury will select the overall winner. The MANGO Commission together with the Jury will adopt their decisions according to simple majority. Deliberations of MANGO Commission and the Jury will be secret.

Contest Calendar

15th November 2006:
Media presentation of the "MANGO Fashion Awards"

30th November 2006 - 2nd February 2007:
Period to apply for the contest

1st March 2007:
Selection of the final 50 candidates by the MANGO Committee

12th April 2007:
Presentation of the final 50 projects before the jury

3rd May 2007:
Selection of the 10 finalists

6th September 2007:
Awards Ceremony and presentation of the short listed collections

Prizes

-- The collections of the 10 short listed candidates will be exhibited in a showroom following the Final Event of the contest. Their work will be presented to potential buyers, who will visit the showroom.
-- The jury will name one overall winner, who will receive a cash prize of 300, 000 Euros.
-- MANGO reserves the right to offer the 10 finalists the opportunity of manufacturing and selling their collections partially and/or totally through any stores MANGO may consider most appropriate (MNG, multi-brand chains, etc.). The fabrics, price range, intellectual and exploitation rights, as well as any other issues, will be discussed and agreed with the designer according to the company's targets.

Final Event

The Final Event, during which the 10 collections will be presented and the winning collection will be decided, will last two days. The Fashion Show and Awards Ceremony will take place on the first day, whereas the collections will be presented to potential buyers on the second day,.

MANGO will arrange the setting, style and organization of the presentation of the collections during the Final Event.

MANGO will also pay all expenses for the stay of the finalists in Barcelona.

For more information : http://www.mangofashionawards.com/

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