New names at the fashion horizon
99 participants nominated for the fashion design competition "Fashion View 2001" (Exhibition: 05/to 07/10/2001, Wissenschaftspark (science park) Gelsenkirchen).

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99 designers and designer teams from 11 European countries have been nominated for participation in the fashion design competition "Fashion View 2001" under the motto living worlds. About 250 outfits or products in the field of shoes and accessories from leisure clothes to business outfits, from sports wear to nightlife subjects will be shown in the exhibition "living worlds" in the Wissenschaftspark (science park) Gelsenkirchen from 05/to 07/10/2001.
Focussing on an invitation to a competition for students, start-ups and freelancers not being self-employed fro more than 3 years the organizer of the "Fashion View", EUDEKOM GmbH, has a clear concept of financially supporting the new designer generation standing at the beginning of their careers and designing fashion, which is creative, consumer-oriented and marketable. On the occasion of the event a jury will award sponsorships totalling DM 35.000,00 to excellent design performances on the topic "living worlds". Furthermore, all participants will have the opportunity to present themselves in a professional way on the occasion of the event. Additionally, EUDEKOM GmbH aims at supporting students to find practical trainings or self-employed and freelancers to contact industry. The "Fashion View" is financially aided by the Ministry for Economics and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Energy and Traffic of North Rhine Westphalia and the European Union within the European Structure Fond.

The fashion design competition "Fashion View"
The Fashion View was initiated by the Ministry for Economics of North Rhine Westphalia in order to strengthen and to advertise the position of this important location for design. As early as in 1994 the organizer EUDEKOM GmbH, an internationally operating specialized service agent operating as a mediator between business of the free economy and public institutions of the federal states, the federation and the European Union, created the idea for a "European Design Award" on the occasion of the event "INNOVA MODA".
In a few years since its founding in 1995 - then titled "Fashion Design Prize of North Rhine Westphalia" - the "Fashion View" was further developed from a regional to a European competition for innovative fashion design. In the year 2000 for the first time the competition was advertised for clothes, accessories and shoes all over Europe. The book "echte mode" (real fashion), which was produced in cooperation with the magazine MAX in 1999 and focussed on consumers as trend makers in different metropolis, delivered the idea for the introduction of a new form of event for the young designers.

The nomination
More than 150 national and international schools as well as 400 designers were invited for competition. Due to a joint first selection and personal talks 120 presentations of drawings and conceptions of students, start-ups and freelancers from all federal states as well as for example from Italy, the Netherlands or England had been sent in. A jury carefully assessed the proposals in the fields of "Casual Day-World"‚ "Business World"‚ "Nightlife-World"‚ or "Sportswear-World" in the product groups ‚Fashion' or ‚Accessory'. Mrs. Heide Broll of the Ministry for Economics of North Rhine Westphalia/Düsseldorf, Mr. Paolo Dignola of the firm Italink/Mailand, Mr. Wilhelm Möhlmann of MSC Shoe Corporation/Zurich as well as Mrs. Nicole Tolksdorf of the agency AD-Public/Düsseldorf belonged to that jury.
In order to decide on the nominations the jury not only took into account questions of innovation, originality, marketability or an obvious aesthetic line. They also took into account, whether a participant already works as a self-employed or whether he still studies, because there are different challenges according to the respective situation. At the beginning of working as a self-employed you have to intensively take into account a uniform conception or the independence of a draft ready for production, while during studies the originality of an idea or the skilful drawing can be a decisive factor.
This year's idea of the competition "living worlds" also had to be taken into account. A "Nightlife-Outfit" has to differentiate from an outfit for business dinner. Therefore, the characteristics of the respective living world were taken into account, for example that drafts for the field of "Nightlife" could have a more spectacular effect as far as the optics are concerned, while in the fields of "Casual-Day-World" or "Sportswear-World" simplicity could be a crucial point.

Competent variety: examples of participants
Whether it is dealt with the combination of materials like woven imitation fur, tweed with jeans materials up to textiles which can recycled and biologically decomposed, special functions or solutions in daily life problems: the aspect of changing plays an important role. And the one who thinks that today we always have to present ourselves, cannot divide his dressed life into separate periods.

Profiled into another world
Instead of wearing sport shoes together with a business suit or substituting a costume by a T-shirt intelligent nuances and functions are invented which enable changing outfits for all situations of life. Thus, the concepts and ideas are of a substantial variety.
For example, to be able to quickly change profiles by changeable laces and locks at shoes and accessories, so that we switch from "Casual-Day" to "Nightlife" by glamorous optics. Or adding room for packing something in bags, which sometimes is processed like secret partitions, sometimes can be used for many functions. Even a water resistant overall was proposed for the outdoor area, which can easily be conjured up from a winter boot. Classic elements of the "sportswear world" like sweat shirts and knitted cuffs which can be worn the whole long day are combined for feminine outfits.

>From Capri to New York
Inspired by American Football and romantic sounds of TV-soaps, like "Our small farm", elements of style are set into relation in numerous contrasts as further participants predict. And - according to the opinion of another applicant - where extremes meet daily, as for example in New York, the style of the street can be combined with the flair of the high society, glamour with extroverted casualness, the non usual with the usual - up to the clothing concept "The Lady and the Tramp".
You may be excited, if then today's view looks into the "Capri of the 50ies". It is obvious that there will be much new, if the flux of ideas goes to Tunisia, Turkey or into landscapes as the Grand Canyon unfolds as the example of one designer shows. Literally speaking being on the trace of the metropolis with your own skin - in the field of nightlife - according to another participant - for example city maps are changed into leather.

Being Venus or vagabond
There were many proposals in the field of nightlife, which offer glamour and luxury for the great performance in the evening or something practical for the club scene on the occasion of nightly strolls. For example there is the natural subject of water, which inspired one participant to round forms symbolising the smooth and wavy. Blue, flowing chiffon is draped in several layers, makes transparent different intensities of colours and imitates the smooth moves of the water - embroidered with silver pearls which have an effect of dew drops on the one who wears it - it is said in the description of the idea.
But if clothes and jewellery are combined, glamorous and mundane pieces also occur as for example the scarf of a designer made of sweet water pearls, steel silk and dried rose buds which obviously is an especially valuable accessory for today's Venus.

Luxury materials like crocodile leather and jewels are used - as a further draft says - or the shoes fitting to the bag are harmonized inventively and with unobtrusive quotes. And the one who prefers less glamour, can see the subject "Jeans in the Night" in a new light or combine natural materials with synthetics in patchwork style.

>From 05/to 07/10/2001 all works will be presented on the occasion of the exhibition "Living worlds" in the Wissenschaftspark (science park) Gelsenkirchen. For further information interested people and visitors may contact: Mrs.Stephanie Dey, phone.: ++49-209-167-1306, fax: ++49-209-167-1321 or e-mail: stephanie.dey@eudekom.de.

Editorial: Silvia Sonnenschmidt
Project communication, EUDEKOM Gesellschaft für Designtransfer und
Kommunikation mbH, Wissenschaftspark und Technologiezentrum Rheinelbe, Munscheidstraße 14, 45886 Gelsenkirchen
phone.: +49 209 167 1324, fax: +49 209 167 1321, e-mail:
silvia.sonnenschmidt@eudekom.de, http://www.eudekom.de