International Visitors Programme
From
Italy, United Kingdom and Belgium
Dates of visit
8-11 July 2015
Purpose of visit
This year once again, the 14 top-ranked degree candidates from the seven Dutch fashion academies will send their collections down the catwalk in the Lichting group show. Lichting 2015 will take place on 10 July, during Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek Amsterdam. The designer chosen as most promising will win the V&D Talent Award. On the preceding day, Patrick De Muynck, Noemie Schwaller, Raissa Verhaege and Krystyna Metz will play an important role: they'll sit on the panel that will hear the candidates' 10-minute pitches on their portfolios and collections. The panellists will give advice to the emerging designers and subsequently help to choose the prizewinner in a vote with other professionals. The guests will also attend other shows and dine with the academies' head lecturers and representatives of other partner institutions, including Het Nieuwe Instituut.
Lichting was founded to link emerging talent with the fashion industry, and its award has become the country's top prize for young fashion designers. The Lichting 2015 winner will get the opportunity to design, develop and produce a capsule collection with professional advice and guidance. The collection will go on sale in selected V&D stores in spring 2016. The company is head sponsor of the prize.
Bios
Patrick De Muynck is head of the design department at the Polimoda International Institute of Fashion Design and Marketing in Florence, Italy. Noemie Schwaller is editor of DASH Magazine, a London-based fashion publication. Raissa Verhaege handles brand strategy and business development for the Belgian fashion house AF Vandevorst. Krystyna Metz is product development manager for BVBA 32, the company behind the fashion house Ann Demeulemeester.