The Rising Voices Award, initiated in May by the Fashion Council Germany (FCG) and the US shoe brand Ugg, selected the ten finalists after the designs had been assessed by an international jury.
The aim of the prize is to promote up-and-coming German designers with a focus on sustainability. The task was therefore to develop a sustainable concept for the Ugg model “Classic Mini”.
The ten finalists are Alisa Menkhaus from the Susumu Ai label, Andrea Bonfini from Fade out Label, Jakeyoung Shim from Acceptance Letter Studio, Julia Ballardt and Nico Verhaegen from Milk of Lime, Karen Jessen, Lucas Meyer-Leclère from LML Studio, Nicole Knüppel by Butterflies & Feathers, Svea Katharina Beckedorf, Toni Dathe and William Fan.
They were selected by a jury based on the three criteria of sustainability, creativity and innovation. The jury consisted of: Bianca Lang-Bognar, Editor-in-Chief at Brookmedia; Christiane Arp, Chairwoman of the Fashion Council Germany; Helene Frain, Vice President Design at Ugg; Inga Griese, Editor-in-Chief of Icon Magazine; Magdalena Schaffrin, Co-Owner & Creative Strategist at Studio mm04; Nicks Ericsson, Senior Director of Purpose at Ugg and Scott Lipinski, Managing Director of the Fashion Council Germany.
Prototypes at the Berlin Fashion Week
In the next step, the ten finalists will implement their creative visions in prototypes and then present them to the press and industry representatives during Berlin Fashion Week in September.
The runners-up will then be announced at the Fashion Council Germany’s “FireSideChat” networking event in exactly one month, on September 5, 2022. The winner can expect prize money of 20,000 euros.