First Lululemon Texprint Award winners chosen
Sheree Waterson, executive vice president and chief
product officer of activewear company Lululemon Athletica, has selected two
winners of the inaugural Lululemon Texprint Award.
Manri Kishimoto and Sophie Reeves each won a three-month
paid internship at Lululemon headquarters in Vancouver, Canada, where they will
join the company’s design team and enjoy a £1,000 cash prize.
Waterson picked the two designers as the winners of this
prestigious prize out of 24 carefully-selected new textile designers who
graduated from UK art and design schools this summer — working in print, weave,
knit, stitch and mixed media — who are taking part in this year’s Texprint
career development programme.
Texprint is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to
nurturing the best British-trained graduates in textile design. It is sponsored
by a number of other textile and fabric experts including The Woolmark Company,
Pantone X-Rite, Marks & Spencer.
Ms Kishimoto, originally from Yokohama, Japan, studied
for a Fashion Print Design BA Hons at Central St Martins in London, while Ms Reeves,
a University of Brighton graduate, is a weaver who focuses on colour.
Prior to joining the Canadian yogawear company for their
internships, they will take part in textile design show Indigo, Paris, part of
Première Vision Pluriel, from September 19-21, 2012.
Ms Waterson said: "What’s exciting about Texprint is it
supports, develops and nurtures the creatives that are involved in textiles.
"The UK has a phenomenal track record for producing talent that’s unparalleled and the rigour with which the curriculum is constructed results in the best talent in the world. The talent at Texprint is the best of the best and it’s international."
