Petra Fagerström Wins the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize
Upcycling materials from Mercedes-Benz passenger cars for their winning collection, the fashion designer is the third to ever win the prize at the Festival d’Hyères.
Upcycling materials from Mercedes-Benz passenger cars for their winning collection, the fashion designer is the third to ever win the prize at the Festival d’Hyères.
For nearly 40 years, the Festival d’Hyères has supported emerging fashion talent. The annual event takes place in the South of France at the Villa Noailles, and one of the most eagerly awaited announcements for spotlighting fashion designers to watch, is the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize. This year, Petra Fagerström is the recipient of the €20,000 grant.
As a longstanding sponsor and supporter of major fashion events, this year Mercedes-Benz encouraged designers to upcycle their materials, such as airbags, seat covers and belts, within their final looks, promoting responsible design.
This year's finalists also included Alec Bizby, Bo Kwon Min, Fengyuan Dai, Igor Dieryck, Jung Eun Lee, Leevi Ikäheimo, Marc Sanz Pey, Norman Mabire-L and Tiago Bessa. The pool of designers came from France, Sweden, Portugal, South Korea, Finland, Spain, Belgium and Wales.
Winner Fagerström is a Swedish womenswear designer who this year joined the Swedish Fashion Council’s roster, having previously worked at Acne Studios. Today, the Parsons Paris graduate also went home with the Ateliers des Matières Prize, sponsored by Chanel.
’The quality of her work is absolutely magnificent. We felt the need and the sense Petra wanted to give to the circularity and choice of materials she used for this look’, designer and jury head Charles de Vilmorin commented.
Ahead of today's closing ceremony, Orsola de Castro and Tamsin Blanchard of Estethica led a workshop with finalists focused on educational resources and solutions within the realms of sustainability. Estethica, the platform and resource which is working to advise and nurture longevity and responsible practises within fashion, are a returning partner for the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Mentorship alongside Sandra Sandor, founder of Budapest-based brand Nanushka, of which the Sustainability prize is an off-shoot.
The finalists' looks were also captured in a campaign, photographed by Kristin-Lee Moolman. Styled by Louise Ford, the 10 finalists designs feature against the backdrop of an artwork by Michael Sailstorfer based on a Mercedes-Benz 190 E model, modelled by fashion editor and writer Julia Hobbs, and actor and model Yannick Konan.
