Hyuna Lee's scoops Texprint 2007 prizes at Aquascutum
On Thursday 30th August South Korean Central Saint Martin's graduate Hyuna Lee was awarded a cash prize for winning the 38th Texprint competition. The cheque (for an undisclosed sum which underlies the unique Englishness of this competition) was presented to Hyuna at Aquascutum's Regent Street shop by Aquascutum's CEO and President Kim Winser OBE. She's also received another prize from the total of seven awarded, winning the Texprint Breaking New Ground Award as chosen by the joint heads of design at Aquascutum, Graeme Filder and Michael Herz.
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Hyuna completed a degree in Fine Art in Korea before moving to London to undertake a Foundation Art & Design Degree at the London College of Fashion. She then went on to study for a BA Printed Textile Degree at Central Saint Martin's and achieved a First. Her graduating collection was entered into the Texprint competition by her tutor at Central Saint Martins who was there today, to Hyuna's delight. "She's been great," the designer beamed. "I'm her mother in London" retorted her proud tutor.
The collection is all about "space, getting involved with the space around me. I like telling stories about what surrounds me." The space she explores is her personal space. Hyuna explained that because she only gets to return home once a year, her surroundings in London are very important to her. Her three winning outfits all feature photographs, embroidery and prints that explore and catalogue her Camden flat and close possessions. There's a dress based on her wooden table, flowers, a vase, her bookshelf. She mixes fake with real, for example including a photograph of her hand on a cape where the wearer's hand could appear. She draws by hand and then prints her illustrations.
The competition is open to all colleges with textile degree courses in England and Wales. Each year tutors submit students' who they deem worthy and from the 200 or so submissions, judges on a series of panels which meet over a period of 4 weeks choose 24 collections which went on view at the Chelsea College of Art and Design on July 19th and 20th. The core of Texprint's support comes from the old school merchantile organisations including The Clothworkers' Foundation, The Cotton Industry War Memorial Trust, The Drapers' Company and The Mercers' Company. Other supporters come from a across the industry - Paul Smith, British Menswear Guild, Donna Karan, Jasper Conran. The judging panel is well impressive and some of the 'Stars of Texprint 2007' (as they dub the finalists in the literature) have landed jobs with judges including Diane von Burstenburg, who joined for the first time this year.
Unfortunately, we are likely to lose out on Hyuna Lee here in the UK as she has been offered a job in Japan working for Michiko Koshino's sister, Hiroko. You can see the work by Texprint's Stars of 2007 Première Vision 18th-20th September 2007 and then in October the exhibition travels to Hong Kong, for details check the website.
words and portrait: Marian Buckley
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