There is something horrible in the competition mechanism that decides who is in and who is out. Being or not selected is a frustrating process. In sports for instance, the 100 meter dash very clearly defines the fastest one. It’s a run against the chronometer and who stops it first wins. Who loses knows very well why.
What competition sometimes forgets to praise is the effort of the competitors. There’s a large variety of talents out there, in every field. There are those who naturally have talent, and those who taught themselves to be talented not without great pain and sacrifice. In between there is a whole universe of different shades.
Fashion and fashion accessories competitions involve taste. It’s not you against the chronometer, or you against the high jump bar. It’s you against the taste of who judges you. Sure there is a large technical component and certainly the judgement is not just subjective or depending only on taste, but certainly more than in other competitions, being not selected can have nothing to do with your value or talent.
That’s why when the ITS preselections are over we feel very strange. Inevitably, projects we loved, special people we met during the Scouting Tour and others we contacted on the phone or via email during our researches do not make it through. This article is for them, and for every single one of you who enrolled and was not selected: The only real competition has no judges nor prizes and is with yourself. You are a winner if you put all your energies in what you do. It might sound like a way to find the positive side of not being select, but it is not. It’s the simple, plain truth.
Join us now in a trip among some of many beautiful projects we received that did not make it to the finals this time.
Triinu Pungits already was a finalist at ITS#SIX and you might remember hers was one of the images we used in the ITS#SEVEN communication (as hers was the outfit the model was wearing in the introductory video to the fashion show of ITS#SEVEN, shown on the huge videowall…). Romance and poetry are part of Triinu’s work and now her style has gained an amazing maturity and strength. The wonderful collection she presented this time was a true feast for our eyes. Another former finalist who enrolled again and really struck us for the evolution she had is Amai Rodriguez who participated at ITS#SEVEN. Her ITS#NINE project is a striking step forward, a more reasoned, polished and styled version of the collection that brought her to the ITS finals. We’re so proud about you both, girls. You’re growing and getting stronger and it would have been an honour for us to have you back!
We literally saw Angelo Van Mol grow throughout the years. 4 years ago he was in his first year and Hogeschool Antwerpen and would model for the senior students and we would just think “what a handsome young man”. Then we met him as a student in his second year and thought “wow there’s potential here”. In his third year his collection was utterly wonderful and we saw a finalist, but the outfits weren’t ready yet when the jury selected, and sketches weren’t. When we met him this year we met a detail-maniac designer, workaholic and refined in his work with a wonderful collection already styled and ready. You were worth ITS man, trust us…
Zuzana Kubickova from Czech Republic presented “travel suits to travel in your dreams” and we wanted to wear them. We dived in her portfolio and dreamed we could have her with us in July and travel through space, time and the human mind with her as a fantastic voyagers…Maybe next time. And dearest Alex Mullins, we would have sat down for hours with you at Central Saint Martins College on that table. When you opened your 1930s paper luggage and started displaying prints over prints over prints inspired by ideas over ideas and over more ideas, we felt goose-bumps. Trying to follow the personal reflections on your several inspiration threads was like exploring a new species, like the thrill we get when a bell ring inside and we think “we found him!!”. And loads of incredible prints and graphics came out also from Craig Green’s hands. Colours, geometries, patterns and techniques that will make the fortune of anyone who Craig will work for (he already worked for designers who had the luck of his collaboration…). Thank you for sharing it with us and for your beautiful personality.
Tomislav, you enrolled in ITS#THREE the first time, when you were still studying in Croatia at Tekstilno Tehnoloski Fakultet. You enrolled again in ITS#FIVE and still did not make it through. And then we met you at Royal College last March and thought “this is a menswear collection we’ll have at ITS#NINE” and it felt weird when the jury didn’t agree with us…And Poppy (Cartwright), thanks for answering all of our requests of sending us extra material for your portfolio. We were so afraid the jury would not understand your value because sometimes it happens. For them it’s not like for us that we met you in person and felt the uniqueness of your personal style. But we never forget a face or a collection when it strikes, remember that.
We loved the way Nicolò Artioli from IUAV CLADEM University played with the classical references of the Mod culture, re-designing the parka and multiplying its elements. Repetitions of pockets that bring a new freshness in iconic pieces we’re so used it…that wasn’t easy to achieve! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Tamaki Fujie and Takahiro Inomoto. It was a pleasure and an honour to know you through your work. You visualised childhood nightmares for adults and they look sometimes ridiculous yet filled with fantasies. Parents laugh about them as children run to their bed in tears crying to wake them up. We wanted your fantasy at ITS.
We were close to having another Australian finalist this time. Talia Shuvalov had all that it takes in our opinion to be there in July on our stage. She would have flown for over 24 hours travelling over 3 continents at least before landing in Trieste. But we’ll have to wait for the next time. Thank you Dobromir Draganov. Thanks because you are the confirmation that great designers don’t just come out of famous schools or fashion-renowned cities, and we have always been fighting for that. Your aristocratic-street menswear collection was among our favourites. Magdalena Stark, what a wonderful concept you presented, what wonderful outfits. Thinking of todays amusement parks makes you nervous? Thinking of you not being selected makes US nervous…Don’t stop this, Magdalena, don’t stop thinking like you thing and grabbing your thoughts out of your mind in such a way…thank you.
There were also several beautiful accessories projects we have in our hearts but not among our finalists this year…
Yoolhee Ko from Hogeschool Antwerpen worked with reflections, to show the different points of view from which we see things and to express the idea that when we see things they are a reflection of something we have learned or experienced in the past. All presented in a fantastic old-fashioned Start trek style. Sebastien Martini’s gorgeous necklaces are mainly inspired by primitive art and by the “Dada” movement. He used old bones and wood from old objects and his work always revolves around the association of opposites. Galliano and Dior already had the pleasure of his collaboration and we hope to have the pleasure of him as a finalist next year. Shilpa Chavan, what are you doing out of the ITS#NINE finalists? We were looking at your website yesterday www.littleshilpa.com and thought it was such a pity your portfolio didn’t express all that we saw there! You are an extraordinary accessories maker and we love your work!
If you are looking for completely out of the ordinary streetwear hats then you should rush to www.nikkigiling.com. Nikki Giling’s hats are streetwear-medieval, colourful-gothic-futuristic and who knows how many more definitions. But who cares definitions since they are beautiful, and would have been amazing for our exhibition in July? We met Joanna Nuttal in March and stood in awe in front of her bags based on memory and perception, referencing mourning processes within cultures in European history. Each of her pieces have a particular personal significance to Joanna and crafting them meant having in mind a specific person throughout design and production. Thanks for sharing this, Joanna…And thanks Sarah Lewis, you made us shiver with your bodypieces. This was such a personal and delicate project, an incredibly powerful way to cathartically express your traumatic family experiences. After meeting you at the school we were already picturing your pieces in July in our exhibition space…
There are many others who we did not talk about here. We dream about a huge event with hundreds of finalists, an overload of creativity with prizes and recognition for anyone who deserves it and no hidden talents desperately struggling to survive or to just continue to do what they are good at. In such an event, everyone we talked about here would be with us.
Stay assured they are in our hearts and minds now, as well as in our archive. And we’ll fight for them also, as we do for our finalists. Because we believe they do deserve a chance just like our fantastic voyagers.
