Leading fashion and design luminaries have chosen the six special prize winners from 24 selected graduate textile designers who presented their work at First View  which was held at The Triangle Building at Chelsea College of Art on 15 and 16 July.

The Knit prize was won by Elena Munoz from Central St Martins College of Art & Design Judge Derrick Campbell, managing director of the prize sponsor Lyle & Scott, praised the way in which Elena took an unusual subject – legless insects - and translated that through a scientific and then architectural approach which made for an outstanding collection.

Other winners were as follows:

Breaking New Ground:

Sarah Podlesny, Central St Martins College of Art & Design

Prize judge Peter Copping, artistic director of Nina Ricci, was impressed with how “Sarah took a very simple idea and explored it fully through interesting techniques to arrive at a fantastic end product”. The prize is sponsored by the Pentland Group.

Colour:

Andrew Boyd, Cleveland College of Art & Design

Long-time supporter Pantone Europe is sponsoring the Colour prize, which was judged by designer Wakako Kishimoto, who said: “Andrew’s work shows he has an eye for something new and he knows the value of something alien.”

Weave:

Holly Bradley-Gill, Central St Martins College of Art & Design

Burberry’s Sally Taylor, director – fabric and trim, and Jacqueline Ednie, senior designer soft accessories, print and colour, judged the prize, which is sponsored by The Clothworkers’ Foundation.  They agreed that Holly’s translation from concept through to research drawing and development and final weave technique was very strong, original and versatile.

Print:

Rebecca Lu, University of Brighton

Judge Elena Alfani the director of accessories at the Italian fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo, chose Rebecca’s work due to its details, handwriting and use of colour. The award is sponsored by the print specialist Liberty Art Fabrics.

Interior Fashion:

Andrew Stevenson, Royal College of Art

Texprint’s programme also fosters new talent in the interiors market and this year the prize, given by the Sanderson Art in Industry Trust, was chosen by the textile designer Donna Wilson on behalf of prestige home interior design store Heal’s.  

Through a rigorous selection process, each year Texprint mentors 24 of the most gifted textile designers to graduate from UK art and design schools, bringing them together to network and present their work to some of the most important names in the industry. The designers will next present their work at Indigo (part of Première Vision Pluriel) September 14-16, 2010 where the prize presentation will take place on September 15 at 3.30pm. The Paris event will also mark the official handover from Texprint’s chairman Julius Schofield to Barbara Kennington.