'Lululemon Texprint Award' winners announced

Manri Kishimoto and Sophie Reeves each win a three-month paid internship at Lululemon headquarters in Vancouver, Canada, where they will join the company’s design team as well as a £1,000 cash prize.

Waterson picked the two designers as the winners of this prestigious prize out of 24 carefully-selected new textile designers who graduated from UK art and design schools this summer — working in print, weave, knit, stitch and mixed media — who are taking part in this year’s Texprint career development programmed.

Texprint is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to nurturing the best British-trained graduates in textile design. The programme is open to designers of any nationality. Each year it selects and mentors 24 new designers, guiding them into creative careers in the international worlds of fashion and interior design through the sponsorship of leading names in the industry such as Marks & Spencer, Pantone X-Rite and The Woolmark Company. Lululemon Athletica joined Texprint’s list of Foundation Sponsors this year.

Kishimoto, originally from Yokohama, Japan, studied for a Fashion Print Design BA Hons at world-renown art and design school Central St Martins in London. Waterson described her designs as “outrageous, mind-blowing. Her illustrations are awesome.”

Reeves, a University of Brighton graduate, is a weaver who focuses on colour. Her work was inspired by crystal formations and colour reflections which were translated into graphic jacquard weaves. Reeves was chosen for her balance of creativity, great colour sense, wit and commercial understanding.

Prior to joining the Canadian yogawear company for their internships, Kishimoto and Reeves will take part in Indigo, Paris, the commercial textile design show which is part of Première Vision Pluriel, September 19-21, 2012, where they will have their own exhibition stands as part of the Texprint Village. It is here that Waterson and her team first encountered the Texprint programme.

She said: “What’s exciting about Texprint is it supports, develops and nurtures the creatives that are involved in textiles. The UK has a phenomenal track record for producing talent that’s unparalleled and the rigour with which the curriculum is constructed results in the best talent in the world. The talent at Texprint is the best of the best and it’s international.”

Lululemon Athletica