Swarovski Collective Prize: The 15 Selected Designers have been revealed by the Austrian crystal empire, with the highlighted names on the roster from London, Paris and New York.
The Austrian crystal empire, Swarovski, has just revealed the 15 designers who have joined its Swarovski Collective programme, with the highlighted names on the roster from London, Paris and New York. There are lots of new members representing London design talent, with Thomas Tait, David Koma, Haizhen Wang and the Savile row trained Alexander Lewis joining returning members Peter Pilotto and Emilia Wickstead. Creatures of the Wind, Rosie Assoulin, Tanya Taylor, Tim Coppens, Tome and Vivienne Hu are repping for New York, and Iris Van Herpen, Christian Wijnants and Esteban Cortazar are bringing the Parisian vibes.
All 15 designers will word with Swarovski on their spring/summer 16 and autumn/winter 16 collections. The candidates will be judged over the next two seasons by Nadja Swarovski and a panel of executives. They will look at the candidates’ use of the crystals, from decorative (which most people know about) to technological (which most people don’t know about — such as inside circuit boards and in wearable tech, from 3D printers to LED lights.)
The prize, however, brings the company out of the (sparkly) woodwork and into the very hot awards spotlight. It will award 25,000 euros, or about $33,000, which will be announced in May 2016.
Swarovski has been working with a lot of these names for a few years and, among previous beneficiaries of its support scheme and, perhaps most prominently, Alexander McQueen. In fact the collective started with McQueen, back in 1999, when Nadja Swarovski collaborated with him and Isabella Blow on his iconic SS99 show. (Text Teuku Ajie)
See the complete list below: