WHITE PLAINS, NY, May 19, 2015… SURTEX®, North America’s premier event for the selling and licensing of original art and design, today announced that Lucy Harris, a senior working toward a BA in Fashion and Textile Design at the Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, UK, is the Grand Prize winner of the 2015 edition of designext®, the annual international design competition honoring art and design students for exceptional surface design work.
“Through designext, SURTEX is proud to recognize exceptional talents from among a global pool of young designers, with 76 entries from 17 schools worldwide vying for top honors this year,” said Liz Crawford, Vice President and Group Show Director. “In the first round, judges considered originality and marketplace viability. During SURTEX, judges and show management viewed the student winners’ on-site displays and portfolios, and considered the ability of each winner to maximize participation at SURTEX, in order to determine the 2015 Grand Prize winner.”
The Grand Prize of $1,000 was awarded to Harris, for her project “Side Streets” in the WEAR category, inspired by the New York youth culture of the early ‘90s. “I am so excited to have been a part of the SURTEX designext 2015 competition and to have been invited to such a well-established and recognized show in the art licensing world,” said Lucy Harris, design student from the Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, UK. “To have won this year’sdesignext grand prize with my New Urban Grunge inspired fashion collection has topped off this already fantastic opportunity and week in New York. This experience has only increased my passion for working in the design industry.”
Judges for the 2015 edition of designext® were: David Laubach, design director, Avanti Press Inc.; Ronnie Gold, vice president of design, Home Accent Fabrics; Bryan Parker, vice president of design, CHF Industries; Nancy Fire, founder and creative director of Design Works International and Diane Piemonte, vice president of creative services for Revman International.
The 2015 challenge themed “The New Urban Grunge,” required entrants to create six original surface designs, and translate their application to a product collection. Students could choose one of four categories: WEAR (apparel, personal accessories), WORK (office furniture and upholstery, wall coverings, desk accessories etc.), LIVE (sheets, comforters, tablecloths, dinnerware) and PLAY (gift bags, wrapping paper, journals etc.).
The three additional winners of the 2015 designext awards are: Daniela Ruiz working toward a degree in Textile Design from the Universidad Iberoamericana de Puebla in Puebla, Mexico, for “Vintage Grunge” in the LIVE category, an amalgamation of popular trends showcasing a simple color palette and a mix of textures; Hannah Wilkinson, a senior at the Leeds College of Art in the UK, in her final year of studies for a BA in Printed Textiles and Surface Pattern Design, for “The New Urban Grunge” in the WORK category, which updates grunge for a modern-day corporate look while drawing on influences from the industrial landscapes of Northern England; and Lucas Woolley, a junior at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, for his “Cement Garden” in the WEAR category, a mix of static and organic shapes that stay true to the neutrals found in urban areas while delivering a pop of color.
SURTEX is the annual tradeshow for the surface design industry, bringing together owners and creators of surface design (artists, designers, studios, agents, brands and licensors) with manufacturers, product designers, product developers and marketers utilizing surface design for product development of home goods, fashion, stationery, furniture and more. Since 1986, SURTEX has been the single event and global resource offering the full scope of art selling and licensing under one roof. The 2015 edition, will present some 325 exhibitors featuring the work of more than 1,200 artists and designers from around the world. Information and registration is available online at www.surtex.com