Designers’ Nest and Hyères Fashion Competition News and Prizes

Good news from fashion competitions – Aalto Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design students and graduates in finals of the Designers’ Nest 2022 and Hyères International Festival of Fashion.

Designers’ Nest Finalists:

Boram Yoo – FaCT graduate, The Designers’ Nest Award Winner

Joona Rautiainen – FaCT

Leevi Ikäheimo – Fashion BA, The Exhibition Prize Winner

Elina Heilanen – Fashion BA

Designers’ Nest 2022

Designers’ Nest is a non-profit initiative that supports fashion talents from the Nordics in their early stages after graduation. It features graduate designers who show high levels of originality, creativity, craftsmanship and responsible design.

The winner of the Designers’ Nest Award in 2022 is FaCT graduate Boram Yoo.

Boram Yoo wins 50.000 DKK (approximately 6.700 euros) as early support of her work, receives a study trip to UEDA College of Fashion in Osaka, Japan, and is awarded a ceramic artwork created by Danish artist Karl Monies.

Description of Boram Yoo’s collection:

MA-graduate of Aalto University, Boram Yoo has explored the history of the forced labour uniform in Korea. One of the staple garments worn by Korean elderly women are trousers with eccentric floral prints, which were originally black attire used in forced labour in the colonial era. The cheerful floral prints were applied after the war to overcome the horrible past as hyper-eccentric design of an imagined positive future. With floral prints overlaid on the military garment from the Korean War, Boram juxtaposes the stories of war and the optimistic re-appropriation of garments. The collection captures the sublimation of hardship into eternal value and beauty through hopeful imagination. As her main technique, Boram has “painted” with fabrics by merging fabrics with contrasting characteristics and prints together 3-dimensionally as a de-contextualisation of both the military elements and floral prints.

Collection by Boram Yoo, Photos: Designers’ Nest

The Jury statement:

“Boram Yoo is a designer whose work exhibits exceptional attention-to-detail, a keen sense of historical investigation, and emotional depth. Her designs speak to fashion’s power as a tool for self-reclamation, and communicate a spirit of eccentricity and optimism – of hope in the face of hardship. Bringing together opposing aesthetic tones and textures – the hard functionality of Korean military garments with plush velvets, or painterly florals with blurred digital prints – Boram’s vision is rigorous, vibrant and undeniably contemporary, making her a truly deserving recipient of this prize.”

The members of the jury:

Mahoro Seward, Fashion Features Editor at i-D
Mariasole Pastori, Executive Director at Diorama and
Talent Acquisition Consultant
Ida Petersson, Buying Director at Browns Fashion
Anders Sølvsten Thomsen, Stylist and Creative Consultant
Ane Lynge-Jorlén, Director at Designer’s Nest

Aalto fashion students in finals of the 37th Hyères Fashion Competition in 2022

The 37th Hyères International Festival of Fashion Competition finalists have been announced, and Aalto FaCT students are once again selected in the finals.