The finalists for the eighth edition of the International Talent Support (ITS) award were recently announced and you can read the complete list here.
As you might already know the ITS is a sort of platform that allows young international talents from three different categories – fashion, accessories (including footwear, hardwear, softwear, bodywear and jewellery) and photography – to get further visibility and financial support.
The results will be announced at the end of the 2-day event that will take place in Trieste, Italy, on 10th and 11th July 2009.
There was great variety when it came to the nationality of the participants in this edition, but all of them have something in common: they represent the most prestigious art, design and fashion academies from all over the world.
I found interesting to read about some of the trends that inspired the participants, from nature, flowers and animals to body transformations and even ceramic and tiles (my wish of seeing a porcelain and ceramic inspired fashion collection is maybe going to be turned into reality soon…).
There are many talented young designers among the finalists chosen and I think Dutch Michael Van Der Ham from Central Saint Martins will have good chances.
He presented his collection, that comprised ten dresses, at the college's MA show during the latest London Fashion Week.
His composite designs, made by combining pieces of clothes and dresses from various eras, from the 20s to the 70s, in an assorted range of materials – from brocade to quilted lame, boucle, crepe and jacquard – and with different weights, struck the attention of many fashion critics and he was proclaimed joint winner of the L'Oreal Professionnel Award together with Oden Wilson.
Yet there might be good chances also for menswear designers such as Thai Jasper Sinchai Chadprajong from London’s Royal College of Art who has a fresh approach to menswear and seems to have a talent for designing light trench coats with silver inserts, sport jackets with an elegant touch and checked shirts in bright colours.
Conceptual design in menswear is instead represented by South Korean Mason Jung, from the Royal College of Art, who designed a suit-cum-sleeping bag that he rechristened the “sleeping suit”.
Accessory designers never fail to amaze me: among the finalists there are also Japanese Yuima Nakazato from Hogeschool Antwerpen and Chinese Hoiming Fung and Baldwin Pui from Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
The former has recently designed for his A/W 09 collection a few amazing body pieces and architectural shoes as well, while the latter form together the luxury brand Hoiming and employed in their latest collection (S/S 09, entitled "Pinocchio") leather and cork for their bags and small accessories.
I’m pretty sure that Israeli Doron Taubenfeld from Shenkar College of Engineering and Design will get the interest of many eco-fashionistas out there thanks to jewellery pieces that seem to be made by assembling bits and pieces of hardware.
I quite like also Irish Una Burke from London College of Fashion who a while back created leather headpieces, bodysuits, arm splints and shoulder pieces inspired by the theme of human trauma that remind of the medical braces used to heal broken bones and spinal injuries, British Weronika Lesniak from the London College of Fashion who designed engraved leather men’s footwear and cases inspired by armour decorations, and Chinese Nicholas Liu from the Royal College of Art who creates jewellery and accessories inspired by the fragile architecture of traditional Chinese houses and temples.
I guess that among the photographers Chinese Quentin Shih has probably got great chances of winning. Shih was awarded “Photographer of the Year” by Esquire magazine in 2007.
Many of you might remember Shih’s “The Stranger In The Glass Box”, his series of images of models wearing Dior gowns, locked under glass boxes and surrounded by Chinese landscapes that was presented last year at the "Christian Dior & Contemporary Chinese Artists" exhibition at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. 
Yet the competition is fierce also in the photography category.
I quite like the work of Finnish Saana Wang from the University of Art & Design Helsinki and the surreally ordinary and at times disturbing images shot by American Sarah Small from Rhode Island School of Design.
You can keep up to date with the latest news about ITS#8 on its site or on its MySpace page.
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