FINALISTS ARE GOOD! FINALISTS ARE EVIL!
April 26, 2012
You were all waiting for this and here we are. It is time to reveal the names!! The accessories, fashion and jewelry jury have selected the new generation that are now part of the ITS Family and will gather in Trieste on 13-14 July to show what they are capable of. Please welcome the ITS 2012 Finalists with a (virtual) round of applause! Before you go through the 3 lists, here is a message written by Barbara herself about this year's Selection:
Message from Barbara to the young talents
Here we are for another important step after last year’s decade edition...
In these years I had the honour and the commitment to view over 10,000 portfolios coming from all over the world. Our list begins with ARGENTINA and ends with ZIMBABWE and it is such a privilege to try to understand what happens in the world of creativity and see you grow year after year. The moments spent diving into your ideas and dreams have been the most exciting of my existence...you never stop exciting and surprising me. Most importantly you continue to provide me with the energy I need to carry on this difficult mission of organising yet another edition of International Talent Support.
It is always so hard to reach a final list and a different jury – to be precise three different juries – would have most probably reached another verdict. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sending me your material. Even though only 31 will come to Trieste for the finals in July, you are now part of our Creative Archive forever. Or for as long as we exist. And we will try to do our best to support not just the finalists, but everybody. Deciding the finalists was such a struggle for me. I hate it because I always have to renounce to a number of you and some of my favourites inevitably slip out of the selections...It’s like loosing a limb, as well as loosing the opportunity of supporting you more. I can only say, I do all that is in my power to help as many of you as I can.
Barbara
FASHION FINALISTS
- Veronika Kallaur (Belarus)
- Mark Goldenberg (Israel)
- Yong Kyun Shin (South Korea)
- Isabel Vollrath (Germany)
- Shengwei Wang (China)
- Marius Janusauskas (Lithuania)
- Luke Brooks (United Kingdom)
- Ichiro Suzuki (Japan)
- Isabella Kuru (Germany)
- Chiaki Moronaga (Japan)
- Cherie Newing (United Kingdom)
- Laura Gostling (United Kingdom)
- Anna Gammelgaard (Denmark)
- Tamar Areshidze (Georgia)
- Victoria Spruce (United Kingdom)
- Taeseok Kang (South Korea)
- Volker Koch (Germany)
- Silvia Romanelli (Italy)
- Ana Rajcevic (Serbia)
- Benjamin John Hall (United Kingdom)
- Emma Montague (Denmark)
- Gregory Larin (Israel)
- Xiao Zi Yang (China)
- Merav Roth (Israel)
- Margherita Abi-Hanna (Lebanon)
- Milko Boyarov (Bulgaria)
- Yz Wang (China)
- Tian Hong Zhang (Canada)
- Charlotte Valkeniers (Belgium)
- Kasumi Ashizawa (Japan)
- Anabela Chan (United Kingdom)
ACCESSORIES FINALISTS
JEWELRY FINALISTS
In conclusion, here are the comments by the jury members about the projects they viewed in these days:
ITS FASHION
Sara Maino - Fashion Editor Vogue Italia / Vogue.it
What always surprises me when selecting portfolios at ITS is the amazing and incredible work that Barbara Franchin and her team do throughout the year. I think this needs to be underlined. This year I found many interesting designers, all different from each other. Especially this time I noticed the cultural influence. All the projects were very focused on the collection, sometimes lacking in the presentation which resulted too simple. The vision of all these designers gives me the energy to continue to search for talents.
Kat Nadj - UK HR Manager, PPR Luxury Group (Gucci Group Services Ltd)
This year has seen applicants using colour much more throughout their collections. The use of various fabrics with their colour has evoked beautiful shapes. We have seen very whimsical, delicate collection juxtaposed by very street & hip-hop collections, which will take us on an exciting journey when deciding the winner.
Valentina Maggi - Director of Design Practice at Floriane de St. Pierre
I have very much appreciated the discovery of hidden talents in schools I had never heard of, who were not only pre-selected but made it to the finals in July. I look forward to meeting them in June!
Vladimiro Baldin - Creative Center Coordinator at Diesel
A sense of cleanness in the silhouettes prevails, along with the predominance of white. The study and development of the materials was particularly refined, with interesting prints, graphic textures and textile structures, often dominating the designs’ shapes. I found the portfolios from Japanese schools very interesting, along with those from Chinese schools which are improving more and more. It is always a great privilege to be part of the ITS Family and give my contribution to the discovery and support of new creative talents.
Caterina Salvador - Fashion Coordinator COIN Group
The selection was very interesting, varied and projects were well prepared. It was interesting to see from the fashion portfolios that talent can be found all over the world. And chances can be given for different reasons according to preparation and profiles.
Deanna Ferretti - Entrepreneur
First of all I would like to congratulate myself with Barbara and her staff for their organisation and professionality which confirms itself at extremely high levels. This year I was positively struck by the quality of the projects coming from German schools, a surprise for me, while those coming from English schools are always very good. I had the impression that portfolios were slightly less rich than in the past. Above all I noticed a lack of poetry, perhaps due to the current economic situation we are living in? ITS remains an incredible initiative to discover and support the best young talents in the world, it must never die.
ITS ACCESSORIES
Elisabetta Barracchia - Editor Vogue Accessori / Vogue Gioiello
What always surprises me when selecting portfolios at ITS is the amazing and incredible work that Barbara Franchin and her team do throughout the year. I think this needs to be underlined. This year I found many interesting designers, all different from each other. Especially this time I noticed the cultural influence. All the projects were very focused on the collection, sometimes lacking in the presentation which resulted too simple. The vision of all these designers gives me the energy to continue to search for talents.
Isabella Zegrini - Christian Dior Haute Couture Accessories
I had not felt so positively shocked, surprised and enthusiast for a long time: apart from the extremely high level of the candidates, I also discovered a beautiful town outside the usual fashion tracks and a team of very well prepared, kind, modern and efficient people. What struck me the most is the philosophy that brings them together, the same that rules Barbara's own experience and life, never giving up her everyday realisation of a dream. The ITS team is an amazing example for everyone, especially for us designers who sometimes feel like we've got nothing left to learn.
Marco Grandi - YKK Italy Marketing Director
Very good proposals, accurate, in some cases remarkable. It was very hard to choose the finalists. The level is really high this year and we’re looking forward to help them for the development of their work.
Kei Kagami - Fashion Designer
It was indeed really hard to decide the best 10 projects. The standard was simply very very high, the highest ever actualy. In the end I am happy and totally satisifed with the selection we made. I am indeed looking forward to the day of the finals! Great!
ITS JEWELRY
Ute Schumacher - Swarovski Trend & Design Department Director
In our globalized world of design we observe a strong influence of regional identities and cultural heritage. We were especially touched by the applicants involvement in exploring their cultural backgrounds. There were eight different nationalities among the 10 finalists and they certainly showcased a broad variety of cultural differences. The finalists met our expectations of transforming their ideas into contemporary concepts and they did it at a very high level.
