TEXPRINT First View Exhibition 2009

L-R: Ronald Weisbrod - Swiss Textile Federation, Zandra Rhodes, Grayson Perry, Barbara Horspool, New Look, Giles Deacon, John Tate - Lyle & Scott and the 24 star designers

Emphasising the professional and creative synergy between the worlds of art and fashion, this year's prestigious judges had a difficult job in selecting the winning designers. However, they eventually reached a unanimous agreement and the winners are as follows:

PRINT PRIZE - RUTH DAVIS

British fashion icon Zandra Rhodes selected Ruth Davis as the winner of the PRINT prize, which was donated again this year by LIBERTY ART FABRICS. Zandra observed the importance of harnessing artistic output, commenting on the professionalism of this year's winner: "I think she's a natural textile designer, her prints have lots of life and she has gorgeous sketch books."

Ruth is a BA Fashion Design graduate from the University of Northumbria.

BREAKING NEW GROUND- NICOLA STRATHEARN

International fashion maverick of the moment Giles Deacon, chose Nicola Strathearn as winner of the Breaking New Ground prize, which was once again donated by WGSN. Seeing the potential in Nicola's work to potentially break new fashion ground, Giles noted that Nicola showed "Some beautiful developments of print, texture and fabrics, manipulating them around - really fantastic!"

Nicola Strathearn is an MA Mixed Media Textiles graduate from the Royal College of Art.

COLOUR PRIZE - LISA STANNARD

Barbara Horspool, trend director of high street fashion giant New Look, selected Lisa Stannard as winner of the Colour Prize.  Barbara commented, “I was delighted with Lisa’s use of both bold and muted shades teamed with her delicate almost naïve drawings.”

Lisa Stannard is a BA Textile Design graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University School of Art.

KNIT PRIZE - HOLLIE MALONEY

Lyle & Scott's Head Of Design John Tate, selected HOLLIE MALONEY as the deserving winner of the Knit Prize. 

Hollie Maloney is a BA Fashion & Textile graduate from the University of Brighton.

WEAVE PRIZE - MARTHA STEADMAN

Ronald Weisbrod, Vice Chairman of the Swiss Textile Federation, selected Martha Steadman as winner of the WEAVE prize. Ronald observed the development of heritage craft into a commercial proposition, noting that: " Martha used her Welsh origins as inspiration which was a great reference point, she created a series of modern designs, using a dobby weave, which is very difficult to do."

Martha Steadman is a BA Textile Design graduate from Central St Martin's College of Art and Design.

INTERIOR FASHION PRIZE - NANCY TAPLIN

Grayson Perry, renowned artist / ceramicist and Turner Prize winner chose Nancy Taplin as winner of the INTERIOR FASHION PRIZE. Grayson was overwhelmed by the creativity on display, "It's lovely to see people who really enjoy drawing." Duplicity in subject matter being an idiosyncrasy of Grayson's work, it was also the deciding factor in his selection of Nancy as the winner, "I really liked the way she drew from really dark subject matter, verging on the sick." He went on to comment on the commercial potential of Nancy's work, noting that he "could see some of her work in Ralph Lauren". A true commercial inversion of passionate artistic endeavour!

Nancy Taplin is a BA Fashion and Textiles graduate from Colchester School of Art.

The next step is taking the designer's work to Indigo in Paris, 15-18 September (part of Première Vision Pluriel). Each star will have a booth to present their work to an international audience and the prizes will also be presented on Wednesday, 16 September at Indigo, by Harold Tillman, chairman British Fashion Council & Jaeger. That evening Julius Schofield will host a private reception with the British Ambassador at the British Embassy of the star's work and the ComON TEXPRINT Competition scarves.

Further information is available at www.TEXPRINT.org.uk