Only four years’ existence for the Who’s Next Blog and already a success for this competition that brings together 500 young designer profiles. Every year, 20 prize-winners from four different categories (masculine, feminine, accessories, shoes) will have the opportunity to exhibit at the show as of 30th June. Presentation.
Women’s fashion
Morgan Kirch (France) revisits fashion rooted in French culture, in a very retro yet understated style. The ultra-graphic designs of this young designer from Lyon are surprisingly mature with their simple and elegant lines, providing a new take on major French fashion classics.
Daniela Barros (Portugal) loves fashion. This passion goes back to his childhood and explains much of his extraordinary eye for detail. His rigour and meticulous care outline the avant-garde nature of this collection. Inspired, paradoxically by nature and the gothic world, innovative materials are the hallmark of his designs.
Elise Kim (Netherlands) was born in Hô Chi Minh-City, Vietnam before studying in Canada, Milan and London She now lives and works in Amsterdam. This somewhat Phileas Fogg-style curriculum vitae partly explains the wealth of the young woman’s collection. Blending lines like colours, styles like eras.
Ankur Gupta (India) designs according to the codes of his childhood. Firstly, the hours he spent in his uncle’s carpet factory in New Delhi. From this was born his unconditional love for fine materials. Secondly, his Indian culture. Dreams, surrealism, Hinduism. Pearls and embroidery, prints and kaleidoscope shapes.
Tata Christiane (Germany) is both a clothes label and a theatrical, cinema and photographic costume design agency, created by Julie Bourgeois and Hanrigabriel. More than a simple range of clothes, the two designers offer a genuine world. Permanently playing with the reinterpretation of streetwear and the frontier between elegance and bad taste. Each piece is unique and hand-finished.
Men’s wear and Urban fashion
Même T’aime (France) is a unisex line that does not avoid gender codes but likes to combine them. 100% French production with a couture aspect that gives the collection the weight of history and the lightness of know-how. A perfect balance between simplicity, comfort and innovation.
Twenty(2)Too (Rumania) was born from the childhood of Mihai Dan Zarug. His mother had a factory where each scrap of material was transformed into clothing. This miraculous piece of magic was this young Romanian’s own private nursery and theme park. At the age of 22 and after studying in Paris, Mihai surprises us with his ultra-personal and risqué, but always successful, designs.
Flo de Richefort (France) is the brand of Florian Roth Richefort. This young Franco-German designer claims a very promising rococo-psychedelic style. Trained at Atelier Chardon Savard, his line makes comfort its prime consideration. With use of colour and prints used as “anti-depressors”.
Ivanman (Germany) is a contraction of Ivan Mandzukic, an ESMOD graduate. This Berliner offers understated and even minimalist designs. All the quality of his designs is based on details, offered in complete humility. Ivanman is made for men who love discreet elegance and everyday aesthetics.
La Garçonnière (France) is born of Tristan Besnard’s love for art. More precisely, it is his father, a painter, who forged the aesthetic sense of the young Tristan. This Breton, who created his brand in 2011, cites pre-raphaelism, Chris Garneau’s folk music, Jim Jarmusch’s films and the world of Hayao Miyazaki as his influences. The collection is the perfect alliance of dandyism and street boy style. A must.
Accessories
Lucy Jay (UK) is a real live wire. Her imagination is boundless. Her colours are the expression of a rare creative impulse. Far from having one single guiding thread, Lucy Jay takes her inspiration from humour, making each piece unique in time and personality. Beauty with a psychedelic, Gothic or art deco identity.
Emma J. Shipley (UK), launched last year, is a brand, named after its creator, after she had received a multitude of prestigious awards. Her scarves have natural themes, inspired by William Morris, the arts and crafts movement and the work of Darwin. Designed in London, the scarves are made in Italy in very high quality silk, wool or cashmere.
Saturno (Spain) is a Madrid-based brand but also a design agency. It was set up by Julia Vergara and Javier SuTurno after they had left their respective jobs as architect and graphic artist. Their past experience leads them to deform, deviate and adapt geometric shapes and traditional materials. The inspiration of the two designers comes from flea markets and their obsession with collecting all kinds of objects
AtelierCalottaSadino (Italy) is a rebel brand, seeking to get away from the straightjacket of mass marketing. With Made in Italy designs putting the accent on entirely hand-made products. Influenced by the world of art and design, the Carlotta Sadino collection achieves the pinnacle of craft and authentic expertise. Customers who wear its hats say they have a soul.
Mies Nobis (Germany) is an eclectic line that takes its inspiration from artist Jenny Kee and the architect Gaudi. Australian designer Millicent Nobis launched her brand in 2010, using brass, wood and silver to make limited edition jewellery. The designer strives to produce extraordinary items, which she claims is easier to achieve in jewellery than in clothing. She cites Plato to describe her style. “Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depends on simplicity”.
Shoes
The very first collection of Kong Yiu Cheng (Netherlands) produced after graduating, revisits the forms of men’s shoes. His collection, Mister Cheng, therefore takes us into the classic masculine world. The derby, the richelieu or sandal are given a more rough-and-ready look. For example, the Naked Shoes series and the use of polyurethane plastic reveals skin that is usually concealed.
Vincent Bottesi (France) has followed many paths before dedicating himself to shoes. It was a successful gamble as the young designer from Isère received his first two awards in 2010. His collection of women’s sandals is simply amazing. With their curved heels, these sandals are unique, provocative by their innovation and ultra-glamorous, enhancing the essence of femininity.
Priscilla Jolivet (France) is specialised in children’s fashion and created April in Paris a few months ago. She reinterprets classic and eternal styles, while being relentlessly demanding in terms of materials. Her collection offers real refinement and an effective throwback to retro chic.
Manami Saito (Japan) presents a graduation collection, a variation on three styles of women’s shoes. Manami Saito successfully brings together modernity and ancestral craftsmanship upheld in Japan for centuries. Spring-mounted heels fitted on shoes offer fine historic references.
Gustave Whesper (France) is the work of a student. In his third year at ESMOD Paris, in the accessories section, Hugues Bareteau de Perricot takes his inspiration from 1940s curvaceous car designs. Each design is unique and takes its reference to a specific type of bodywork. A fundamentally masculine and particularly elegant collection.
French