Victory and loss, pain or relief – sports invoke pure emotions and have seeped into almost all areas of life, even fashion. Yet performance sportswear does not play a very significant role in fashion design schools. The European Fashion Award FASH 2012, in cooperation with the Special Award Gore Bike Wear, searched for sportswear for competitive, endurance, training or fitness sports combining function and fashion in a trend-setting way under the title “Active – Performance Sportswear”. A jury of international experts from design, industry, retail and the press selected the winners according to predetermined criteria. The award presentation was held at the international sporting goods trade show ISPO MUNICH 12.

The Winners
1st Prize was awarded to Kristina Mora und Alexander Brenk (6th Semester, Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences) for their yoga collection “We are”. The women’s collection offers a functional and aesthetic representation of the dynamics and peaceful stillness of yoga. Textile bands, flowing around the body like strands of energy, provide support and protect against hyperextension. The haptic and aesthetic feeling of wellbeing ensures that the wearer can focus more closely on her inner self as well as on the exercises. “Kristina Mora and Alexander Brenk brought a new perspective to the economically strong, yet rather uninspired and conventional yoga wear market. Their modern design vocabulary meets the zeitgeist, fulfills the desire for attractive fashions for women as well as functional and health aspects. They accomplished what the best designers have trouble with in our saturated markets: a relevant product that has a right to be on the market,” explains jury chairman Joachim Schirrmacher (Creative Consultant, Berlin) the decision to award the 1st Prize to this collection, which left other entries way behind.

Margarita Ruiz Velázquez (Bachelor of Arts Active Sportswear, University of the Arts London) received the Special Award Gore Bike Wear for her collection “Vertical Cyclewear”. The Venezuelan esign student’s men’s collection merges elements of athletic bikewear with the aesthetics of fashion labels, and is perfectly suitable for cycling as well as at the office or at a trendy “Cycle Café”. “All details radiate understanding of the sport and its followers,” said jury member Clemens Deilmann (Head of Design, Gore Bike Wear).

A Special Mention was awarded to Hildemieke Vis (7th Semester, University College Falmouth) for her women’s collection “Running Business”. She wants to motivate women to integrate exercise into their daily routine. The Dutch student’s collection can be worn at the office, yet works as fully functional sportswear at the same time. “Hildemieke Vis provides a new type of aesthetic to the popular sport of running,” commends jury member Stefan Bogner (CEO Factor Product, Munich).

Another Special Mention went to Jörn Wonneberger (Graduate, University of Applied Sciences Zwickau, Department of Applied Art Schneeberg). His Nokok 3/1 combines three things into one: an outdoor jacket, a coat and a sleeping bag. Nokok is a cocoon for globetrotters; less luggage means less weight. “Jörn Wonneberger was able to turn a purely functional item into something you’ll want to have,” explains jury member Marcel Herrig (Unicut Design Limited, Shenzhen, China).

The projects by Josephine Wegener (Akademie JAK Hamburg) and Bethan Heslop (University College Falmouth) were inducted into the Archive of the Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie as an additional recognition. These projects, as well as the portfolios of all winning projects are accessible to the public at the Lipperheide Costume Library, National Museums in Berlin – the world’s largest library and graphical collection of the cultural history of fashion and apparel.

The prizes included a photography session for each collection by renowned fashion photographer Gregor Hohenberg (Vogue, Elle, GQ, AD; Berlin). In addition, each project will be documented in a special catalogue (design: Christof Nardin, Vienna), presented at an exhibit booth at the world’s largest sports business platform ISPO MUNICH and promoted via the event’s public relations channels. Further, cash prizes totaling 10,000 Euro were awarded, as well as a six-month, paid internship at Gore Bike Wear. All awarded prizes have an overall cash value of about 80,000 Euro.

For the list of all winners and prizes, a detailed description of the winning projects as well as the jury statements click here.

Members of the 2012 Jury
Stefan Bogner, CEO Factor Product, Munich
Clemens Deilmann, Head of Design, Gore Bike Wear, Munich
Ivonne Fehn, Fashion Director, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Munich
Marcel Herrig, Unicut Design Limited, Shenzhen, China
Detlev Maaß, Divisional VP, Sport Scheck, Munich
Joachim Schirrmacher, Creative Consultant, Berlin

Der European Fashion Award FASH
has been held annually since 2005 by the Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie (German Fashion Industry Foundation) – SDBI. Today, the European Fashion Award FASH is considered one of the most important fashion design newcomer awards in the world thanks to its tradition, fairness, strictly professional orientation, challenging selection of topics, high-caliber jury, elaborate selection process, its documentation, and last but not least, the career development of its winners. The global competition targets extraordinarily talented design students from all areas of design beginning with the fourth semester. A second category is open to entries consisting of graduate projects.

Fashion entrepreneur Klaus Steilmann founded SDBI in 1978. The goal is the targeted endorsement of promising new designers. In 2008 the foundation’s charitable work was honored with an award as part of the German government and commerce initiative “Deutschland – Land der Ideen” / “Germany – Land of Ideas”.

More information:
www.sdbi.de

Media Contacts
For more information, contact details for the winners and image material, please contact:
Joachim Schirrmacher
Project Director / Advisory Board Chairman SDBI
Stiftung der Deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie
T +49 (0) 30 544 850 60
schirrmacher@sdbi.de

Maud von Hoff
Communication Manager
Messe München GmbH
 T +49 (0) 89 949 20610
hoff@ispo.com