IFTF International Fur Design Competition
The REMIX competition was introduced in 2003 by the International Fur Trade Federation in collaboration with MIFUR, the Milan based international fur and leather exhibition.
The competition aims to encourage, inspire and support young designers as they develop and explore their relationship with fur, as well as giving them an opportunity to showcase their innovative designs to an international audience.
Now in its fifth year over, 220 students from more than 21 countries have taken part since 2003. To mark the fifth year of the competition, IFTF increased the number of finalists invited to attend the final in Milan from three to eight.
REMIX 2008
German Young Designer, Bianca-Maria Keil, was awarded the gold prize at REMIX, the International Fur Design Competition for her milk white, hip length, Swakara cape. [see image above].
Bianca-Maria is a graduate of the prestigious Esmod International Fashion School in Munich and has worked with Hugo Boss. The silver prize went to Hanako Geierhos, also of Germany. Hanako is currently studying for her doctorate at the Vienna Academy of Fine Art. Her design was an elegant, steel grey, corseted overcoat with folded collar. Bronze was awarded to Russia’s Elena Montingelli, a recent graduate of the Moscow College of Art Graphics. Her garment was tightly belted, black sheared fur coat with satin edging.
All the young designers taking part in the REMIX design competition are the winners of their own national level design competitions, resulting in an outstanding level of design.
The awards were made after a runway show, when all 42 garments from the 2008 competition were presented to guests from the media, fashion world and the fur trade. The garments were restyled and ‘remixed’ to reflect three of the key trends fro the coming autumn/winter 2008-2009 season.
This year’s three winners all received a cash prize of US$ 3,000 for gold; US$ 2,000 for silver and US$ 1,000 for bronze. The prize package for eight all finalists included a trip to Milan, introductions to both fashion and fur trade members, and PR support for a year.
Judging
There are two stages of judging for REMIX. For both rounds the judges are asked to select their preferred designs on the basis of creativity and imagination, technical understanding/feasibility of production and saleability.
Round 1 An international jury nominates their eight choices of garments from all the entries received. In addition, fashion journalists are invited to view all entries and make their selection. The media vote constitutes 20% of the overall round 1 result.
Round 2 All garments are displayed in a special, exhibition at MIFUR, where visitors to the fair are asked to nominate their choice from the eight short listed finalists.
The eight finalists then present their designs to a smaller jury, and answer any questions and talk about their designs in more detail. The combined vote from MIFUR visitors and the round 2 jury decides the overall winner.
