SAVE THE DATE: on the 19-20th April a preselections jury will delve into the hundreds of portfolios that has arrived from all over the world. Such a difficult task, guys: thousands of different ideas and inspirations, concepts and messages from different cultural backgrounds to deal with.
Creativity, innovation and feasibility are the criteria used to select the finalists.
Their names will be online in real time: come back next week (21st April) and you will get to know the FAB GENERATION#THREE.

Do you want to meet our heroes of the Jury, meanwhile?

WILBERT DAS - Diesel Creative Director

Wilbert Das was born in Holland in 1963.
He graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Arnhem, Holland (which at that time was one of the 3 most famous fashion institutes worldwide), where he had studied Fashion for 5 years. After graduating in 1988, he joined Diesel where he started out as male designer assistant (working also on the Kids, Accessories and Leather lines).
In 1993 he became not only Head of Design (leading a style office of some 30 people) but also Creative Director of the company, responsible for all the creative concepts, from Advertising (he is one of the founding members of the internal Diesel Creative Team) to Interior Design (he coordinated the restructuring of the Diesel Pelican Hotel in Miami and the creation of all main Diesel flagship stores worldwide), from Product (design and production) to fashion shows and catalogues.

VALENTINA MAGGI & ELISABETH DIEUPART - Floriane de St. Pierre Headhunters

Valentina Maggi was born in 1972 in Milan and graduated in Architecture from the Politecnico di Milano in 1998, with a specialisation in Restoration of Monuments.
After 1 year working as an Architect in a Design Studio in Milan, she left Italie and moved to Paris in 1999.
In the same year she joined FLORIANE DE SAINT PIERRE & ASSOCIES, Executive Search Company specialising in Fashion and Luxury Goods.
After 6 months working as the Assistant of the Consultant in charge of all Creative searches, under Floriane de Saint Pierre's supervision, she took the Responsibility of all Creative Recruitments for the Company.
Since 2003, Valentina Maggi has become Associate in FLORIANE DE SAINT PIERRE & ASSOCIES.
Born in 1977, Elisabeth Dieupart graduated in French Modern Literature from La Sorbonne in Paris in 1999 with a specialisation in Communication.
After some internships in Europe and USA in PR Agencies, she joined an independent PR Agency in Paris in 2000. She took care of Public Relations for France for the following brands : ROBERTO CAVALLI, TOMMY HILFIGER, ANDRE WALKER.
Since 2001 she works at FLORIANE DE SAINT PIERRE & ASSOCIES as Researcher in the Creative Department.

MARIA LUISA POUMAILLOU - Founder and Buyer for Maria Luisa Boutiques

Maria Luisa's adventure began in 1988 with the opening of her first boutique in Paris in a very unconventional street -2, Rue Cambon- as unconventional were at that time the fashion designers' collections that she had chosen to launch: John Galliano, Helmut Lang, Ann Demeulemeester, Martin Margiela to name just a few! These almost unknown fashion designers were to become fashion icons quite immediately.
In the years to follow Maria Luisa's fame as a visionary woman spotting the most-famous-to-become designers has never stopped growing.
At 40, rue du Mont Thabor the widest, smartest and biggest space was open in 2002. It will welcome the collection of the winner of the Maria Luisa Award in the form of a dedicated shop-window.
Maria Luisa now owns and directs 4 boutiques where some of the most innovative and outstanding fashion designers ? such as Bernhard Willhelm, Lutz, Sharon Wauchob etc - are sold.

BARBARA FRANCHIN - Talent Scout

Barbara Franchin was born in Trieste in 1967. Living in a border zone has led to her openness and curiosity in terms of interfusion in all its forms.
She took her first steps in the fashion world establishing an atelier with a friend aimed to the creation of extravagant womenswear clothing.
Her propensity for exchange, comparison, curiosity and the search for the creative spark lead her to create and organise in 1993 Mittelmoda, a projects created to provide space for the elaboration and search for talent within the fashion world.
Barbara left it after the 2000 edition to launch a new and autonomous entrepreneurial project in Trieste; an agency, EVE, of which she is Director & Project Supervisor.
As director of EVE she is now organising the third edition of ITS - International Talent Support.