A number of fashion graduates and aspiring designers attended Neo.Fashion 2022 during Berlin Fashion Week, held September 6-8 at Reinbeckhallen. The event included a series of graduate shows with over 80 of the best German design graduates from 10 universities, as well as a number of new guests and formats that expanded the concept of previous years.
Many of the designers featured on the graduate catwalks had qualified for the second edition of the Neo.Fashion Awards, presented on the final day of the event. The participants were selected from universities of applied sciences and art schools and presented their graduation collections at special shows for each university. The prizes, awarded by an expert jury from the Fashion Council Germany (FCG), were awarded in the categories Best Design, Best Sustainability and Best Craftsmanship. All award winners receive a tailor-made mentoring program.
Max Tautorus from the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences won the award for the best design for his “Kinship” collection. Nanyi Li from the University of Art and Design was awarded the prize for the best sustainability concept for her “Flowers in the Mist” collection. The prize for the best innovation went to Antonia Dannenberg from the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences for her “Melt Down” collection.
Before the graduate awards were presented, Neo.Fashion also presented the winners of the “European Fashion Award Fash”, which is supported by the German Textile Industry Foundation (SDBI). The organization held its own fashion show with the three winners of the award, where the award ceremony also took place. The top two finishers were Viola Schmidt and Idan Yoav, while Lihi Mendel took second place.
Ethiopian and Ukrainian designers at Neo.Fashion
In addition to the graduate shows, Neo.Fashion also presented designers from Ethiopia and Ukraine. As part of a collaboration with the Next Fashion School Addis Ababa and Fashion Africa 254, five designers presented their own collective show at the opening of the event on Tuesday. Participating designers included Betselot Zewge, Bekalu Sindew, Meti Gaye, Gebayil Assegid and Mahider Belay.
In addition, six participants took part in a runway show in cooperation with the Ukrainian Fashion Week, including the winners of the “Look into the Future” format. In a statement, Neo.Fashion commented on the partnership: “We are full of solidarity and happy to be able to give Ukrainian designers a platform in their current situation. The entire Neo.Fashion team expresses its solidarity with the Ukrainian people.”
A particularly new format for Neo.Fashion was the “Aspiring Designers” segment, with which the event wanted to further expand its previous promotion of young fashion design talents through shows and exhibitions. A total of 17 German alumni, young designers and start-up brands took part in the initiative in the first year and presented their collections throughout the week in a large showroom as well as at additional catwalk shows.
In the showroom, the designers presented a personal presentation that provided information about their collections and gave an insight into their work. The designers were also able to take part in workshops and panel discussions open to all visitors to share experiences and network with the industry.
To further expand the new concept, Neo.Fashion will also host a pop-up event for its ‘Aspiring Designer’ participants, which will take place in Berlin in autumn 2022.
“I am very pleased that Neo.Fashion is focusing on young fashion designers and supporting them in the long term,” said Stephan Schwarz, Berlin’s Senator for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises in a statement. “Neo.Fashion has become an important format at Berlin Fashion Week. We want to support the international visibility of graduates and young designers and also underline how important the development of the creative scene in Berlin is to us.”
This translated and edited post previously appeared on FashionUnited.uk.