Wednesday September 16 2009 was a monumental day for Texprint. First, at its annual awards ceremony, Harold Tillman, Chairman of the British Fashion Council, Jaeger and, as recently announced, Aquascutum, presented the prestigious special prizes to six of the 24 British-trained new graduate textile designers. The presentation took place in the Texprint village of textile design show Indigo, part of the world-renowned fashion sourcing event Première Vision Pluriel, Paris. The prize winners each received £750 and the opportunity to showcase their work at Interstoff Asia Essential in Hong Kong in October. They were:

KNIT PRIZE – Hollie Maloney, selected by John Tate, Head of Design, Lyle & Scott, prize donated by LYLE & SCOTT.  

PRINT PRIZE – Ruth Davis, selected by Zandra Rhodes, prize donated by LIBERTY ART FABRICS.  

BREAKING NEW GROUND PRIZE – Nicola Strathearn, selected by Giles Deacon, prize donated by WGSN.  

COLOUR PRIZE – Lisa Stannard, selected by Barbara Horspool, Group Design Director, New Look, prize donated by PANTONE EUROPE.  

INTERIOR FASHION PRIZE – Nancy Taplin, selected by Grayson Perry, prize donated by THE SANDERSON ART IN INDUSTRY TRUST.  

WEAVE PRIZE – Martha Steadman, selected by Ronald Weisbrod, Weisbrod Zürrer, prize donated by AWI (AUSTRALIAN WOOL INNOVATION).  

“What an amazing, exciting selection of work I have just seen! The talent of the 24 star textile graduates of the class of 2009 is so inspiring – I am delighted that this talent should be showcased by Texprint at Indigo and Première Vision – the world’s foremost textile fair.”

A special gala reception was held that evening at the British Embassy, Paris, hosted jointly by the British Ambassador, Sir Peter Westmacott, Harold Tillman and Julius Schofield, Chairman, Texprint, where the six laureates and the three winners of the ComON Texprint scarf competition presented their work to an impressive group of the world’s leading fashion and textile designers, decision makers and press, including the designer Agnes B; Moritz and Franco Mantero – Mantero; Elisa Palomino - Diane von Furstenberg; Luigi Turconi - Ratti; Lex Gamas and Barbara Horspool - New Look; Harley Hughes - YSL; Keith Warren - Loewe; David Shah - View Publications; Peter Copping - Nina Ricci; Deborah Lloyd - Kate Spade; Elena Alfani - Ferragamo; Sally O’Rourke - WGSN; Louis Bompard - L’Officiel; Sophie Fontenel - Elle; Natalie Yuksel and Caroline Hamelle - Grazia and Barbara Pasquini - Collezioni Trends.

It was confirmed that the winning scarves will be promoted in the famous Liberty store in London. Last night’s event previewed the reception for the British fashion industry hosted by Sarah Brown to be held at 10 Downing Street on Friday 19 September.

 Texprint is dedicated to selecting and mentoring the best graduating textile design talent, bringing them together to network and present their work to some of the most important names in the industry, both in the UK and internationally. After launching at First View in London in July, the 24 stars travelled to Paris to exhibit their work at Indigo. Despite the prevailing economic climate, the exhibition has already generated important leads and major contacts for the young designers.

“Texprint is a wonderful opportunity for the industry to discover the stars of the future and, in these uncertain times, original textile design and creative thinking is what will make a business stand out from the crowd.” Harold Tillman, Chairman British Fashion Council, Jaeger and Aquascutum

MAJOR SPONSORS

AUSTRALIAN WOOL INNOVATION

BURBERRY                                                                                                                          

COMO UNIONE INDUSTRIALE

THE CLOTHWORKERS’ FOUNDATION

THE COTTON INDUSTRY WAR MEMORIAL TRUST

DIANE von FURSTENBERG           

THE DRAPERS’ COMPANY

GARFIELD WESTON FOUNDATION

THE HABERDASHERS’ COMPANY

INDIGO                                                                               

JAEGER                                                

THE LAURA ASHLEY FOUNDATION

MARKS & SPENCER

NEW LOOK                                                                                         

SANDERSON ART IN INDUSTRY TRUST

PRIZE SPONSORS

Australian Wool Innovation

Liberty Art Fabrics

Lyle & Scott

Pantone Europe

Sanderson Art in Industry Trust

WGSN

SPONSORING PUBLICATIONS

COLLEZIONI Trends        

VIEW     Publications       

Noticiero Textil

SUPPORTERS

Aquascutum                                                     

Boden  

British Fabrics/UKFT                                       

Donna Karan                                                     

Friends of Texprint

Giles Deacon                                     

Hobbs

Jigsaw  

Lord Barnby’s Foundation           

Makower Prize Fund     

Miroglio Textile Srl/Ulmia                                                                      

Nathan Jenden                

Paul Smith                                                          

Pentland Group Plc

Ratti SpA                                                             

R.A. Smart Ltd

Salvatore Ferragamo Italia SpA                 

Swiss Textile Federation

Weisbrod-Zürrer AG      

The Worshipful Company of Weavers  

IN-KIND SUPPORTERS

Chelsea College of Art & Design

D&AD Talentpool

Emtex Ltd – Designer Forum

Gallant Macmillan LLP

London Printworks Trust

Messe Frankfurt (HK)

Mode Information

R.A. Smart Ltd

Society of Dyers & Colourists

Toray Textiles Europe Ltd 

WGSN