For one weekend, the historic building complex around the Irminenfreihof, the "home" of Trier's fashion designers, was transformed into a festival site. Numerous exhibitions and events dealt with the themes of fashion, diversity and sustainability on the occasion of the 100th anniversary. Alumni, friends and supporters as well as well-known names from the fashion industry were invited to the Fashion Design Department. The event took place under the patronage of Rhineland-Palatinate Minister Malu Dreyer.
Fashion at the centre of life
The Mayor of Trier, Wolfram Leibe, and Rhineland-Palatinate's Minister of Economic Affairs, Daniela Schmitt, were also present at the official ceremony on Saturday. "The fashion design discipline in Trier is rightly considered one of the most recognised in Germany, it is a beacon for the state. Fashion can combine tradition and modernity and reconcile economic sustainability with resource-saving design and production methods. Designers are always protagonists of current economic, social and ecological developments," emphasised Schmitt.
The President of the University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr. Dorit Schumann, the Dean of the Design Campus, Prof. Dr. Matthias Sieveke and the Head of the Fashion Design Department, Prof. Dirk Wolfes, as initiator and organiser of the festival, welcomed the numerous guests who had come to the festival from all over Germany, but also from all over the world. "I am pleased that we are celebrating this anniversary so exuberantly in a large, international circle. It's nice that our graduates remain connected to the department after their studies and have accepted our invitation. A big thank you goes to all the students and the entire faculty, who have worked on the realisation of the festival with a lot of heart and soul and extraordinary commitment far beyond the regular timetable," says Wolfes. During the event, Prof. Jo Meurer was also bid farewell and honoured for his many years of work in the department.
Big names of the international fashion industry as guests at the Campus Gestaltung
Radiance and reach beyond the region: the Fashion Design Department in Trier has a high reputation worldwide, many alumni work as designers for international fashion companies such as MARC O'POLO, Calvin Klein, Marc Cain or Saint Laurent after their studies. And yet they are still closely connected to the discipline, the good contacts - from which current students also benefit - often remain after graduation.
Symposium and international partner universities
In addition to the exhibitions, some of which were part of the cultural programme for the national exhibition "The Fall of the Roman Empire", there was also a symposium on the challenges and opportunities of sustainability in the fashion industry. Students and teachers from the design partner schools ESAD Porto, BCU Birmingham and ZUYD Maastricht also visited the festival weekend. The international exchange was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Sold-out fashion shows in the Europahalle Trier
The absolute highlights of the festival were certainly the two fashion shows in the evening in the Europahalle. The fashion shows of the fashion design department have been known and popular nationwide for many years. And so it was no wonder that the shows were sold out weeks in advance. To give everyone the opportunity, the show was broadcast live on OK54.de. The models on the catwalk had been selected beforehand in a "diversity casting". Detached from typical model measurements and stereotypes, personality and charisma were in demand here; clothing size and age did not play a role.
Three endowed prizes awarded to talented young designers
The big "Anniversary Show" on Saturday was opened by the oldest former lecturer Ursula Weissroth and the youngest student. Together they pressed the buzzer to open the show. After the show, the Fashion Award of the City of Trier was presented by Lord Mayor Wolfram Leibe. From over 40 submitted student collections, the top-class jury chose the work "Is it cold in the water?" by Master's graduate Joshua Sengespeick. The collection radiates originality and freshness, it combines sportswear elements with haute couture with wit and irony," said the jury. The prize, donated by Sparkasse Trier, is endowed with 3,000 € and was also awarded for the first time in the form of a sculpture. The winning design by students Patrick Johnson and Tabea Sand (fashion design) shows a three-dimensional ground plan of the Irminenfreihof made of transparent Plexiglas.
Quite surprisingly and spontaneously, the jury had also decided to award another jury prize of 1000 euros to Master's graduate Paola Olaguivel for her innovative and trend-setting collection. "Emotions in the Metaverse" is the first collection to be created completely virtually in 3D design in Trier, an absolute premiere. And so there were no models on the catwalk, but avatars presented the clothes via video.
Jury members Fashion Award of the City of Trier
- Antje Selzer - Calvin Klein
- Richard Gihr - Marc Cain
- Miranda Konstantinidou - Konplott
- Reinhard Brodel - C&A
- Dr. Elisabeth Dühr - City Museum Simeonstift Trier
This year, for the first time, an audience prize was awarded, donated by Miranda Konstantinidou/KONPLOTT Jewellery. Here, the audience decided by ballot. This year's winner is Master's graduate Hani Akkil with his collection "Ninfa Fiorentina". His haute couture collection showed a surreal interpretation of the motif of frozen movement. Miranda Konstantinidou, who herself studied fashion design in Trier in the early 90s, presented the prize of €2,500 at the end of the "Anniversary Show".
The anniversary was supported by the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Economics, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture, the Rhineland-Palatinate Foundation for Culture, the Cultural Foundation of the Sparkasse Trier, the Lotto Rhineland-Palatinate Foundation, the City of Trier, the Friends of Trier University, the Science Alliance and other sponsors.
>> Further information can be found at www.mitderzeit.com
Fashion Design in Trier - A course of study with history and tradition
The fashion design course at Trier University of Applied Sciences is not only one of the most recognised in Germany, it is also the oldest fashion design institution still in existence, having been founded as a design class in 1922 at what was then the Werkkunstschule Trier. Today, the traditions of craft thinking are combined with digital technologies to develop innovative design. The digitalisation of fashion design opens up new possibilities and is a perfect complement to classical education. Currently, over 200 students from 26 countries study here.
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