Where does privacy begin, where does it end? Who knows me, who recognizes me, who controls me? Thanks to digitalization the borders between private and public life are disappearing. Omnipotence is followed by a feeling of powerlessness, angst, and assimilation anxiety. The desire for security, shelter and safety, intimacy, identity and authenticity increases. Can fashion act as a retreat?
This year's competition for the European Fashion Award - FASH 2010 was entitled "Privacy" and searched for designs dealing with this area of tension. The competition is an annual event held by the Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie (German Fashion Industry Foundation - SDBI). A jury consisting of design, industry, marketing and media experts selected the winners from 63 participants from nine countries according to predetermined criteria.
The award presentation was held on February 7th, 2010, during the international trade fair for sports equipment and sports fashion, ispo, in Munich.
1st Prize was awarded to Michael Court (4th Semester, Hochschule fur Kunste Bremen / University of the Arts Bremen) for his collection "The Strength of Silence". His men's and women's designs offer pure, inner calm thanks to their voluminous shapes. The quality of all elements - perception, concept, design, tailoring, illustration, language - is absolutely exceptional. "Michael Court accomplished something very rare these days: serious, yet natural-appearing fashion," commented jury member Ivonne Fehn (Fashion Director Suddeutsche Zeitung Magazin) at the award presentation.
Birgit Brockbals (Bachelor, Akademie Mode & Design / Academy for Fashion & Design, Hamburg) won 2nd Prize with her womenswear collection "internal = external". Her final project shatters the borders between intimacy and public life, between what we truly are and what we pretend to be in public. "Birgit Brockbals impressed us with a compelling interplay of volume, body, and silhouette," said SDBI Project Director and jury member Joachim Schirrmacher.
A 3rd Prize was awarded to both Andre Amorim and Marieke-Sophie Schmidt. Andre Amorim (8th Semester, Escola Superior de Artes Aplicadas de Castelo Branco, Portugal) found the inspiration for his womenswear collection in his grandmother's closet. Jury member Marcel Herrig (Unicut Design Office, Shenzen) praised his work: "Andre Amorim's project "Hello, Grandma!" is gutsy, fresh, and exciting. Marieke-Sophie Schmidt (5th Semester, Hochschule fur Kunste Bremen / University of the Arts Bremen) created "Mimikry", a womenswear collection with a public and private side. "Her young aesthetic fashion is relevant, modern, natural, and has a sense of humour," said jury member Johan Buskqvist (Head of Design Adidas Originals).
Special Mention was awarded to Selena Regenfelder (Bachelor, Kunstuniversitat Linz / Schloß Hetzendorf - University of the Arts Linz / Schloss Hetzendorf Vienna, Austria). Her designs entitled "Born to blaze" use fluorescent materials to set the wearer's personality aglow. Tobias Gröber (Chairman SDBI): "The strength of this project is in its reduction."
Prizes included cash totalling 10,000 Euro, as well as four fabric vouchers worth 4,500 Euro donated by the Swiss Textile Federation.
Photos: Fritz Beck/SDBI (2), Roderick Aichinger/SDBI (1), Daniel Meyer/SDBI (1)