The winners of the Fashion x Craft funding program were presented to the 200 guests of the Firesidechat, an industry meeting of the Berlin Fashion Week, which took place on Tuesday. Since its first edition in 2018, the Firesidechat has brought together decision-makers from the fashion industry and promotes networking and exchange within the industry. The eight up-and-coming designers were able to get to know the guests, who came from various areas of fashion, media, culture, business and politics – among them Andrea Latten, Brand Director of Vogue Germany and Architectural Digest, the designer Michael Sontag and Thorsten Mindermann, Manager at H&M for the Central Europe region.
The Fashion x Craft funding program was launched by Fashion Council Germany. Partners of the funding project are the Swarovski Foundation and The Prince’s Foundation. “Fashion x Craft creates connections, invites dialogue and is therefore another milestone of the Fashion Council Germany,” says Christiane Arp, Chairwoman of the Fashion Council Germany and a member of the Fashion x Craft jury.
According to Jakhya Rahman-Cory, director of the Swarovski Foundation, the call in December was well received and “shows the strong commitment of young people to use their creativity to raise awareness and find solutions for social and environmental sustainability”.
Fashion x Craft offers the selected design talents tailor-made training. The aim is to find new ways for traditional craftsmanship, strengthen innovative thinking and research sustainable methods. By means of twelve web seminars, a three-day workshop and a three-week stay in the new educational facility of The Prince’s Foundation, the winners will be brought closer to these topics.
“I am very much looking forward to seeing the successful candidates’ design work progress as they gain an even greater understanding and appreciation of craftsmanship,” said Jacqueline Farrell, Education Director at The Prince’s Foundation.
The eight young designers include Alexis Mersmann, Jana Heinemann, Julia Ballardt, Nico Verhaegen, Mirjam von Mengershausen, Phillip Kofi Wagner, Svea Katharina Beckedorf and Taskin Goec. The up-and-coming designers come from different design schools, such as the Royal Academy Antwerp, Central Saint Martins in London, as well as the Kunsthochschule Weißensee and the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft in Berlin.
This post was updated with pictures on March 17th.