Finnish Satu Maaranen wins prize at Hyères Festival

By

Florent Gilles

Published
Apr 29, 2013

Finnish Satu Maaranen walked away with the Première Vision Grand Jury prize at the Hyères Festival this weekend. Her ‘Garments in Landscape’ collection, complete with oversized hats, was one of the weekend’s highlights.

“What really took us with Satu’s work is the power of her imagination and her ability to open up an entire new dimension,” said Floriane de Saint-Pierre, experienced headhunter and jury member. “We particularly partial to the way she treated colour in such an artisanal way, as well as her attention to richness and textures.”

Well-known Finnish brand Marimekko has been showcasing the Satu Maaranen strong affinity for colour since she started collaborating with the brand in 2011.

Satu Maaranen, along with the other nine finalists, benefited from the support of Première Vision in the creation of the collections. The textile trade show organiser is this year’s main sponsor, providing a 15,000 euro grant to the winner. The winning collection will travel to the Paris and New York Première Vision shows and will be temporarily on display at various Galeries Lafayette stores.

The Chloé prize, also worth 15,000 euros, was awarded to Camille Kunz for her menswear collection after she received a unanimous vote from the brand, Clare Waight Keller included. The Chloé Prize, launched last year, is awarded for the designer’s ability to take the core values of the brand and reinterpret them in a modern way.

The audience and the people of Hyères awarded a prize to Chinese Shanshan Ruan for her delicate collection, while in Paris a vote by an audience at Palais de Tokyo – who streamed the event live – chose the sophistication of Yvonne Poei-Yie Kwok from Holland.

Out of the ten finalists, 9 different countries were represented. This year is the second year in a row that a Finnish designer has walked home with the award, after last year’s Elina Laitinen, Siiri Raasakka and Tiia Sirén, who were invited back to the festival this past weekend to show their new menswear collection, applauded by Jean-Pierre Blanc, president president of the festical, in his closing speech.