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big design award 2021 awarded “Essential Designers of big 2021” to all finalists and presented them at Tokyo Fashion Week
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Entries for the big design award 2021 are now open!
“big” is an international competition and platform based in Asia that seeks to encourage the progress of fashion on a global scale by supporting fashion designers with fresh and innovative ideas.
To date, Europe stands as the epicentre of the fashion industry, while Asia still lags behind in terms of having in place the necessary support system for young designers. We strongly feel that establishing such an infrastructure in Asia that would contribute to the progress of fashion not only in Europe, but globally is necessary. With this conviction in mind, we have begun our current project.
We offer next-generation designers the means to start their own fashion businesses by providing them with funds; a supportive environment; and opportunities to create ties with professionals and businesses that have pushed the boundaries of the fashion industry. We eagerly anticipate the emergence of new possibilities in the world of fashion, including ideas on how designers can maintain their creativity and what the future landscape in terms of people and fashion may look like.
We support designers who have the potential to become active within the current world of fashion on a global scale, and those who have fresh and innovative ideas that can influence the current “system” that is in place.
Information on the judges
The competition will be judged by a panel of professionals from various fields, who are active on a global scale. *Judges are to be announced on our official website and social media accounts.
VERONIQUE BRANQUINHO
Veronique Branquinho graduated in 1995 from the Antwerp Fashion Department. Two years later, in 1997, she presents her first ready-to-wear women’s collection in Paris. A successful men’s collection follows in January 2003. That same year the designer also opened her own flagship store in Antwerp. In 2009 Branquinho is appointed as artistic director at Delvaux. In 2017 she stops her label and she now focusses on freelance projects.
*photo.Serge Leblon
https://www.instagram.com/veroniquebranquinho
Yasuhiro Mihara
Born in Nagasaki in 1972. Mihara began making shoes on his own while studying at Tama Art University, and launched his own label, MIHARAYASUHIRO, in 1997.
He participated in the Milan Collection for the first time in 2006 and in the Paris Collection from 2007. For the June 2017 collection, he moved his presentation to London, becoming the first Japanese designer to appear on the London Men's Fashion Week schedule.
For the June 2018 collection, he moved his presentation venue back to Paris, where it remains to this day.
Shinji Nanzuka
Born 1978 in Tokyo, Japan, President of Nanzuka. Gallerist.
Opened NANZUKA UNDERGROUND in 2005.
In 2012, the organization changed its name to NANZUKA.
Opened AISHONANZUKA in 2013.
Opened 2G NANZUKA in 2019.
Opened 3110NZ by LDH kitchen in 2020.
In 2021, NANZUKA UNDERGROUND was opened in Harajuku as a flagship gallery.
Kazumi Asamura Hayashi
Born and raised in Tokyo, Kazumi Asamura Hayashi is i-D Japan’s editorial director. She moved to New York in 1999, and while cultivating her career as a stylist, she contributed to fashion and art scenes as a photographer and writer. After returning to Japan, she directed numerous editorials as the editor-in-chief of Japan’s leading independent fashion culture magazine Libertin DUNE.In 2016, she successfully launched i-D Japan, both in print and digitally (including social media platforms). As the magazine’s editorial director, she oversees the creative aspect of editorial, branded, and social content. In 2020, Kazumi launched i-D Asia, a digital platform that aims at developing brands in Asian countries such as China and South Korea.
Takashi Ikegami
Takashi Ikegami is a professor in the Department of General Systems Sciences at the University of Tokyo. His works encompasses both the arts and sciences and deal with complex systems and artificial life. He received his doctorate in physics from the University of Tokyo in 1989. His research is centered on complex systems and artificial life, a field which aims to build a possible form of life using computer simulations, chemical experiments and robots. Some of these results have been published in ”Life Emerges in Motion” from Seido Book Publishers in 2007.
Kazuma Ieiri
Kazuma Ieiri is a successful serial entrepreneur, and President of CAMPFIRE, Inc., the largest crowdfunding company in Japan. Ieiri started his entrepreneurial career by founding paperboy&co. (now, GMO Pepabo) in 2003, and became the youngest entrepreneur whose founded company got listed on the JASDAQ market in 2008. Ieiri founded CAMPFIRE in 2011 and co-founded an e-commerce platform service company called BASE Co., Ltd. in 2012. Later, he led BASE to its listing on the TSE Mothers market in 2019.
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Examination process
First examination round
Please submit your portfolio via the entry form.
The deadline is August 31, 2021, 24:00 Japan time. Submission in digital data is mandatory.
If you wish to send the original by post, please send it to the following address. The deadline for this is August 31, 2021, 5:00 p.m. Japan time. Please do not bring your own work.
big Inc., Shibuya Higashiguchi Bldg. 5F, 2-22-3 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0002, Japan
※Please send your inquiries to contact@big.inc
※The submitted portfolio will not be returned under any circumstances.
※All shipping costs and other expenses related to the application process are the responsibility of the applicant.
Second examination round
Those who pass the preliminary screening will be asked to present their collections and video works in a presentation format at the presentation to be held on December 10 and 11, 2021.
※50,000 yen will be provided for video production.
※There is a possibility that this event will be postponed or conducted online depending on the status of covid-19.
Examination itinerary
First examination round
Please prepare a single volume portfolio containing the following items in the order listed below. Only portfolios in English will be accepted.
- Curriculum Vitae
- A compilation of photographs and materials that have been the source of your inspiration, and which speaks of your underlying design theme.
- Design sketches (minimum 5 and maximum 10 sketches)
*Prepare a compilation of your full collection on a single A4-sized paper.
*On the back of the paper, compose a detailed description of your work, accompanied by color and fabric samples. - Photographs of the collection you will be submitting for consideration, or those of a past collection.
*Portfolios that do not have photographs included will not be considered.
*A minimum of one photo must be included of completed articles. The second photo may be that of items in their developmental stage that will nevertheless give the judges an idea of their shape and form, being worn by either a dummy or a model. - A conceptual outline of your intended video presentation, along with a mood board.
Entry closed
*Portfolios must be A4 in size (21×29.7cm).
*Please be aware that any submitted design sketches and photographs may be published by “big” on their website and SNS, and may be used for other promotional purposes.
*The style and beauty of the portfolio will be factors considered during the examination process.
*Submitted portfolios will not be returned.
*Intellectual property rights will belong to the creator.
*File size must be under 10MB
Second examination round
Successful candidates of the first round will be invited to give a presentation each in a venue located in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
The second examination round will involve the showing of the video (under 5 minutes) created by the applicant; an exhibition of the submitted collection on racks; and a 5-minute presentation in English.
*The 10 candidates who will be moving onto the second round will be provided with 50,000 yen to cover any video production costs.
*The format of the video is up to the creator’s discretion.
*Please exhibit articles that have been included in your portfolio.
*Transportation fees for those travelling from overseas or from outside the Tokyo metropolitan area will be provided for.
*Please be aware that the contestants’ videos and any photographs taken during the presentation may be published by “big” on their website and SNS, and may be used for other promotional purposes.
*Contestants must submit their video files to “big”.
*Intellectual property rights will belong to the creator.
*There is a possibility that this event will be postponed or conducted online depending on the status of covid-19.
Schedule
July 1
call open
August 31
deadline for the first examination round
September 30
announcement of the first examination round results
December 10,11
second examination (final round)*The second examination round will likely be taking place within the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Eligibility
There are no eligibility restrictions. There are no application fees. Those involved in fashion design and production, from students to professional and amateur designers are all welcomed.
Prizes and benefits
- Grand prize: 5,000,000 yen for 1 person
- Secondary prize: 1,000,000 yen for 1 person
- Tertiary prize: 500,000 yen for 2 persons
Information on the support program
At “big,” we offer a diverse range of support programs that will assist young and multi-disciplinary creators who will be engaged in the world of fashion on a global scale.
・ “Monozukuri (production)” support
Creators will be eligible for the use of our atrium within WORLD Kita-Aoyama Building. We provide a wide range of materials and equipment necessary for productization, such as movable worktables, torsos, industrial ironing boards, sewing sets, various industrial sewing machines, etc. Additionally, we will provide matching support with factories and suppliers world-wide that meet the product development requirements of the designers, give production advice, and also organize fashion-related workshops.
・ Sales promotion support
We will provide opportunities for PR and expansion of sales channels in Japan and Asia. Creators will be eligible to use the exhibition area and pressrooms at a special price, which gives them the opportunity to interact with customers and developers, as well as to introduce new products. In addition, we will support photo shoots in our studio, and opening retail stores such as POP-UP stores upon request.
More information concerning our support program will be released on our website in due course
2019
The first “big design award” accepted applications from April 16 to June 15, 2019, and out of approximately 123 applications from 30 countries around the world, 14 teams were selected as finalists. The second round of judging was held at WORLD Kita-Aoyama Building on August 9 and 10, 2019.
The second judging session comprised of the showing of a 5 minute video, an exhibition rack of the collection, and a presentation. Judges Walter Van Beirendonck, fashion designer and President of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Dirk Van Saene, Karchun Leung, Naomi Martin, Takashi Ikegami, Aya Takano, and Kazuma Ieiri decided one grand prix and three grand prizes.
For the finalists and designers selected from the first screening, we started offering the "big labo." program, which provides comprehensive support for the fashion business.
Since then, each designer has made remarkable achievements in their respective countries, presenting their collections as part of the official schedule of fashion weeks in London, Milan, Shanghai, and Tokyo.
They have been nominated for other international fashion awards, and the number of stores that carry their products has been increasing.
| Grand PrizePrize of 5,000,000 yen | Robyn Lynch(Ireland) |
|---|---|
| Secondary PrizePrize of 1,000,000 yen | Heaven Tanudiredja(Indonesia) |
| Tertiary PrizePrize of 500,000 yen | Shuting Qiu（China） |
| Tertiary PrizePrize of 500,000 yen | Stina Randestad(Sweden) |
big labo. support designers
- Robyn Lynch（Ireland）
- Heaven Tanudiredja（Indonesia）
- Shuting Qiu（China）
- Stina Randestad（Sweden）
- Fabian Kis-Juhasz（Hungary）
- Shie Lyu（China）
- Clémence Marie Gautier（Belgium）
- Kim joo young（Korea）
- Tíscar Espadas（Spain）
- Sabine Skarule（Latvia）
- Maryam Fahim（Germany）
- Marguerite Barroux（France）
- Yoshiki Hanzawa（Japan）
- Tetsuya Doi（Japan）
- Yota Anazawa（Japan）
- Annemarie Saric（Austria）
- Louis Appelmans（Belgium）
- Angelika Öllinger（Austria）
- Kenta Nishimura（Japan）
- Seiran Tsuno（Japan）
- Huang Mengwei（China）
- M THING（Japan）
- Keisuke Kanai（Japan）
- Koichi Sato（Japan）
- Kangmin Kim（Korea）
- Ryota Murakami（Japan）
- Shiori Mizuochi（Japan）
- Hiroki Okamoto （Japan）
- Gyeongjin Ryu（Korea）
- Dita Enikova（Latvia）
- Britt Liberg（Dutch）
- Kevin Pleiter（Dutch）
- Olga Vasyukova（Russia）
- Chih Chi Wang（Taiwan)
- Ray Chen（Taiwan)
- Sydney Pimbley（UK）
- Skye Gwillim（UK）
- Hikaru Kodama（Japan）
- Natsumi Osawa（Japan）
- Erika Mish（USA）
Walter Van Beirendonck
Walter Van Beirendonck is a Belgian fashion designer, also a member of the "Antwerp Six”. Now head of fashion of their alma mater the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. Van Beirendonck has nurtured many top talents in today's fashion establishment, including amongst others Raf Simons, Bernhard Willhelm, Rushemy Botter, Demna Gvasalia, Craig Green, and Kris Van Assche.
http://www.waltervanbeirendonck.com https://www.instagram.com/waltervanbeirendonck
Karchun Leung
Karchun Leung is editor-in-chief of Numéro China,And correspondent for Dazed Digital’s Satellite Voices column from 2012.Leung also acts as a retail consultant for various brands in China, has collaborated with Chinese multibrand retailer Dong Liang for a design showcase during Shanghai Fashion Week.
https://www.instagram.com/kkkkkarchun
Takashi Ikegami
complex systems science researcher, professor of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo Graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1984. Graduated from the Graduate School of Science in 1989. Graduated from Kobe University Graduate School of Natural Sciences, 1990. Became Associate Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo in 1994. Incumbent since 2008. Doctor of Science. While continuing research on the subject of complex systems and artificial life, he will also actively connect the fields of art and science.
Aya Takano
Graduated from Tama Art University, Faculty of Arts in 2000. She is an artist from Kaikai Kiki, which led by artist Murakami Takashi. also she is One of Japan's leading artists who hold solo exhibitions in Paris, New York, Lyon, etc., as well as being a popular manga (Japanese comics)artist and essayist with a science fiction motif, providing works to magazine centered media There are also many.
http://gallery-kaikaikiki.com/category/artists/aya_takano
Naomi Martin
Naomi Martin is former production coordinator at SHOWstudio. After studying Fashion Photography at London College of Fashion, Martin pursued a career in photography and production. SHOWstudio is a fashion website founded in 2000 by fashion photographer Nick Knight. In the digital age, it produces fashion films and creatives that make use of the latest technology, and it has developed numerous collaborations with global designers and artists.
https://showstudio.com/contributors/naomi-martin
Kazuma Ieiri
Kazuma Ieiri founded paperboy & co. (current GMO Pepabo) in 2003, which joined the JASDAQ market in 2008. After retiring, he founded CAMPFIRE, Inc. and is currently the President & CEO. In addition, Kazuma has founded numerous companies including BASE, Inc., partyfactory, and XIMERA, established venture capital NOW, and is actively working on the global expansion of the sanctuary share house business “LIVERTY HOUSE.”
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