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Picture of Hanne Jurmu's and Anton Vartiainen's collection. Credit: Sara Riikonen.

Aalto's Hanne Jurmu and Anton Vartiainen have won the Chloé Prize and jury's special mention at Hyéres Fashion Festival. The Grand Prix Prize was awarded to Japanese Wataru Tominaga.

– Long job is now behind and it’s great that our work generates interest and discussion. We have been holding on with our own values during designing this collection, says Anton Vartiainen.

– It is a unique feeling to present our collection, discuss and throw ideas for top professionals. Ideas may grow and spread, says Hanne Jurmu.

– Overall our students are incredibly calm and happy and no sign of tiredness under this competition pressure and being in the middle of attention. They just love to present their collections and design process to professionals and media. A really great attitude and team spirit between Aalto's finalists, tells Professor Pirjo Hirvonen.

Members of the Aalto community designed three out of the ten collections chosen for the final.

Members of the Aalto community designed three out of the ten collections chosen for the final. This year the Hyères finalists include Rolf Ekroth with his men's collection, Hanne Jurmu and Anton Vartiainen with their combined men's collection, and Akino Kurosawa with her women's collection.

In recent years, the main prize of the Hyères Fashion Festival, which is aimed at young professionals, has been awarded twice to collections from Aalto University School of Arts, Design, and Architecture. In 2012, Siiri Raasakka, Tiia Sirén and Elina Laitinen, final-year undergraduate students, were awarded the Grand Prix for their collection of men's clothes and in the spring of 2013, designer Satu Maaranen took the first prize. In the spring of 2015 Elina Määttänen, Sophie Sälekari and the partnership of Elina Äärelä and Heini-Maria Hynynen selected to be among the ten finalists at the Hyères Fashion Festival. Last year's finalists Elina Määttänen and Sophie Sälekari are already employed in to the large fashion houses in Europe.

The judges of the Hyères Fashion Festival represent some of the top international figures in the fashion world. The event has been held at the famous Villa Noailles in Hyères on the French Riviera since the beginning of the 1980s and is regarded as one of the world's most prestigious fashion competitions. The same producers and casting-directors who create the exhibitions for Paris fashion week for the great fashion houses such as Chanel and Balenciaga put it together.

The Festival International de Mode & de Photographie Hyères was held 24 April at the Villa Noailles in France.

Photos of the collections:

Further information
Saara Koskinen
Aalto University Communications
saara.koskinen@aalto.fi
Tel. +358 50 594 3422