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Week 1 Award Winners Announced
Designers creating silk scarves with a political message and an over-engineered silver pencil sharpener were awarded the top accolades at the launch of New Designers last night. Running until Saturday 29 June, week one of this two-week celebration of the future of design brings together 1,500 hand-picked graduate design talents from UK and beyond working in textiles, fashion and costume, ceramics, contemporary design craft and jewellery.
The New Designers Awards are an integral part of New Designers, with accolades given to the most creative and forward-thinking exhibitors in the show, in partnership with leading design brands and organisations: Epson Europe, The Goldsmiths Company, John Lewis, The Hallmark Studio, Harlequin Sainsbury's and Argos Home, Kingfisher, Romo and Wilko. The prizes, which include cash, professional advice and paid work placements, offer graduates vital support as they embark on their creative careers.
Lauren Henry, winner of the £1,500 Business Design Centre New Designer
The winner of the £1,500 Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year Prize was Lauren Henry, a textile design graduate from Falmouth University whose 'See No Evil' fabric and scarf collection is based around using metaphors to describe contemporary issues – from fake news to knife crime.
The New Designer of the Year Runner Up prize was awarded to William Romeril, a silversmithing graduate from the University of the Creative Arts, Rochester, for 'An over elaborate solution to a blunt pencil', a meticulously hand-crafted and deliberately over-engineered solid silver pencil sharpener.
New Designer of the Year Runner Up prize was awarded to William Romeril
New Designers was officially opened by Dennis Nothdruft, Head of Exhibitions at the Fashion & Textile Museum, who commented: 'British design education is a world leader, and British-trained designers and creatives are in demand around the globe…Believe in your work. If you produce something with integrity and you believe in what you do, others will believe in it, too… Continue to design, create with the strength of your convictions, and believe in what you do.'
Molly-Mae Brissett-Haigh, winner of the New Designers EPSON Textile Visionary Award
View the awards