American designer sews up Swiss Textiles Award

Ten years of history, six international labels and two hours of suspense: every year, the Swiss Textiles Award has the rapt attention of the fashion industry.

This time around, even London, Paris and New York were curious to see what would happen in Zurich. Not surprising, considering that this year’s award nominees came from Britain, France and the United States.

In front of a live audience and a panel of international judges, each label presented its latest collection at the Schiffbau event hall in Zurich on Thursday. At the end of the evening, American designer Alexander Wang was declared the winner.

“I’m so shocked and honoured to be here,” said the 25-year-old Wang, whose hands shook as he clutched the flowers and trophy presented to him. His sporty women’s collection resembled a cross between old-fashioned varsity gear and glam clubbing attire. In addition to a radiant smile, he himself was wearing a baggy T-shirt with a couple of holes in it.

“It’s a team that allows me to live my dream,” said Wang, giving special thanks to his family. Originally from San Francisco, Wang moved to New York to study at Parsons Design School. He eventually dropped out to focus on his self-named label, launching his first full collection in 2007. Thanks to the Swiss Textiles Award, Wang now has another 100,000 euros to invest in his label.

However, the generous award is not paid out in cash. Instead, 10,000 euros comes in the form of a voucher for Swiss textiles. Under the guidance of the prize committee, the rest is used toward the production, display and marketing of upcoming collections.

“We believe in the future, our textile industry and the young designers,” said Ronald Weisbrod, vice president of the Swiss Textile Federation. Ten years ago, Weisbrod helped come up with the concept of the award. Past winners have done very well for themselves, with some catapulting to top positions at major labels.

For example, 2003 winner Raf Simons is now chief designer at Jil Sander; Marios Schwab (2007) occupies the same role at Halston. Meanwhile, Bruno Pieters, who won in 2006, is art director at Hugo Boss. Other winners continue to expand their own labels, their specialties ranging from lingerie to millinery.

“The Swiss Textiles Award is considered a trustworthy barometer of talent around the globe,” said Weisbrod. It is also a chance to familiarize young designers with the broad range of fine textiles produced in Switzerland. Each of the five finalists received a voucher for 4,000 euros worth of Swiss textiles.

Nearly all of the past winners were on hand Thursday night, including the American label Rodarte, which won in 2008. Created by California sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, Rodarte was the first North American label to win the Swiss Textiles Award. Though Laura was stuck at home with a cold, Kate came to present their latest collection.

“When we won last year we were really shocked,” said Kate Mulleavy, “It’s such a hard business to begin with, so it’s great to feel that people are supporting you.”

Swiss Textile Award 2009 finalists:

Erdem, Britain
Alexis Mabille, France
Ohne Titel, USA
Peter Pilotto, Britain
Thakoon Panichgul, USA
Alexander Wang, USA (winner)

Swiss Textile Award, past winners:

2008 Rodarte, USA
2007 Marios Schwab, Britain
2006 Bruno Pieters, Belgium
2005 Christian Wijnants, Belgium
2004 Haider Ackermann, Belgium
2003 Raf Simons, Belgium
2002 Benoît Missolin, France
2001 Tran Hin Phu, Switzerland
2000 Daniel Herman, Switzerland