Bilbao, June 14, 2022. The Dutch Jef Montes won the Best Design Award; the Israeli Tal Maslavi received the Best Accessories Award; and the Biscayan Asier Quintana Villa received the Iñaki Azkuna Award for Best Basque Emerging Designer.

La Terminal Building, in the renewed creative area of Zorrozaurre, was the venue for this year’s awards ceremony, which was attended by the Mayor of Bilbao, Juan Maria Aburto; the Provincial Councilor for Economic Promotion of Bizkaia, Ainara Basurko; the Councilor for Economic Development, Commerce and Employment of the City of Bilbao, Xabier Otxandiano, the Councilor of the Youth and Sports Area of the City of Bilbao, Itxaso Erroteta, and the Director of the Youth and Sports Area of the City of Bilbao, Idoia Uriarte, among others.

The winners of the three categories were chosen from among more than 1,300 proposals from promising young designers from 92 different countries who participated in the contest. The international jury was chaired by Javier Alonso Partner of Let’s Grow in Fashion and Lifestyle Business Angel, with representatives of the LVMH group, Vogue and the Balenciaga Museum, as well as leading Spanish fashion designers such as Miriam Ocariz and Mercedes de Miguel, who chose the 30 finalists of the contest in May.

The 30 finalists’ pieces can be seen until June 19 in a unique exhibition at La Terminal Building.

This edition has been characterized by artistic and cultural references such as Pop Art by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, the novel ‘1984’ by George Orwell, the film ‘Inception’ by Christopher Nolan, the mobile sculptures of Alexander Calder, Dadaism or Performative Art. The proposals received, in fact, have shown this year that “fashion is above all a means of artistic and creative expression,” stresses the organization.

The 30 finalist collections reflect the concerns and hopes of these young designers, many of them students at prestigious universities and fashion schools around the world (Parsons, FIT, Central Saint Martin’s, London College of Fashion, Shenkar, Kyoto Seika University, KADK, Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp, Polimoda, IED…).

Despite the incredible designs that were finalists in this edition, only three of them were the winners of the three prizes that were awarded that night.

The award for Best Outfit Design was for Jef Montes (Netherlands – ArtEZ University of the Arts). The Dutchman took the first prize for his collection Marinero. Manufactured by rain, Marinero is a work that is inspired by the growth of flowers and plants. The sea and water have been very important in his work, as Jef Montes has used new materials and techniques in the creation of Marinero. From algae materials to create yarns and dye prototypes to filaments of smart materials, all of it brought together in a provocative and innovative design that has created unique 3D shapes.

In the accessories category, Tal Maslavi (Israel) from Shenkar College of Engineering and Design won the award for Best Accessory Design. A groundbreaking accessories collection, based on the cynical reality in which we live that seeks to challenge and rethink things in the world, this is how the artist described his work. Inspired by Dadaism, the collection’s accessories try to reflect the cynicism and lack of clarity of the era in which we live.

And Asier Quintana Villa, a student at the Royal Danish Academy, received the last prize of the evening, the award for the Best Emerging Basque Designer, for his Logela collection. The Basque designer was inspired by the combination of Performance Art and the design process to shape a collection that explores five emotions connected with the bedroom: fear, roots, refuge, creativity, and self-discovery. Asier employed different shades of black in the process that helped him tell a story through the various textures of each garment. This combination of materials and shades results in an innovative project that reveals the tailoring techniques applied.