Kate & Laura win top honours at Stella Fashion Night

14 Nov '08

4 min read

The label Rodarte of the USA has won the Swiss Textiles Award 2008 worth 100,000 euros and Judith Klingenfeld won the annabelle award and a one year internship with Missoni in Italy.

Last night, the fashion promotional prizes (Swiss Textiles Award and annabelle award) were presented at Stella Fashion Night 08. The sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy of the label Rodarte won the Swiss Textiles Award with prize money of 100,000 euros, presented for the ninth time by the Swiss Textile Federation.

Judith Klingenfeld of Lörrach won the annabelle award and the right to spend a one year internship with the Missoni team in Sumirago near Milan. The Swiss Textile Federation (Swiss Textiles) awarded its promotional prize for the ninth time at Stella Fashion Night.

This year, the Rodarte label from the USA was the winner (www.rodarte.net). Sisters Laura and Kate Mulleavy from Pasadena in Southern California are self-taught. Kate studied History of Art and Laura English literature. In 2005, they decided to found a fashion label and called it Rodarte after their mother's name.

They experimented with materials, silhouettes and techniques. A few months later they presented their first collection in 2005 to carefully selected fashion editors. Within just three years the newcomers advanced to become sought after designers at New York Fashion Week and have remained so ever since.

Each season, they make what they call a new experiment guided by the reflections of their imagination and create stories from the world of fantasy turned into fabrics. Sophisticated art works are the result: the fabrics are ultra soft, the cuts complex and the details numerous: plissees, sewn pearls, draped tulle – everything which serves to lighten the garments.

Swiss Textiles Award presented by an international jury is now in its ninth year, the Swiss Textiles Award is one of the world's best endowed and prestigious fashion prizes for young designers. The prize money amounts to a total of 100,000 euros. This amount is intended to provide substantial support for the pursuit of an international career and is not paid out in cash.

In cooperation with the Swiss Textile Federation, the sisters Mulleavy will determine which activities are to be financed with this prize money (production of their next collection, show production, press relations etc). A part of the total (10,000 euros) will be used to purchase Swiss fabrics.

The other five finalists – Louise Goldin, Jean-Pierre Braganza, TOGA, Cathy Pill and Richard Nicoll – will also receive fabric vouchers worth 4,000 euros. The six finalists were proposed and invited to take part under a nomination procedure by an international team of experts drawn from the world of fashion.

This ensures that only designers who have the necessary experience are admitted to the competition. On the show evening, a prestigious international jury chose the winner: the sisters Mulleavy of the label Rodarte.

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