LAUNCH PAD – The Huntsman Award

In its first year, LAUNCH PAD – The Huntsman Award for European Textile Designers was awarded to 26-year old Laure Kasiers, recently graduated Master of Textile Design from La Cambre in Brussels.

The awards ceremony was held at the trade fair Messe Heimtextil on the CAMPUS stand of European Design Universities. Laure Kasiers won the award with her creation of an unusual mix of PVC and textile materials forming attractive surface structures for premium interior accessories.

Huntsman Textile Effects creates, markets and manufactures a broad range of chemical and dye products that enhance the performance properties and colors of finished textiles and materials. The objective of LAUNCH PAD, the Huntsman Award for European Textile Designers, is to take young designers to business by supporting the implementation of innovative business or product ideas.

The prize, consisting of substantial financial support for the implementation of an innovative design, was presented to the winner, Laure KASIERS from Belgium, during Messe Heimtextil on January 10th, 2008 by the jury president, Olivier Fournier, Director of Holding Textile Hermès, France and Dr. Michael Effing, Vice President Huntsman Textile Effects, EAME. The jury was impressed with the high quality of the projects that were received from European design graduates.

Submissions ranged from garment collections and textile fabric designs to home decoration concepts and new materials for interior design and architecture.

26 year-old Laure Kasiers graduated last May as a Master in Textile Design from ENSAV La Cambre in Brussels. ENSAV, which stands for Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels or National University of Visual Arts, is a leading Belgian academy that trains a total of 650 students in more than 15 fields of visual arts, ranging from the classic forms such as painting, drawing, engraving, sculpture and photography, to modern visual expressions such as animated film, visual and graphic communication and to cross-functional subjects such as outdoor space design, interior architecture, industrial design and textile and fashion design. (www.lacambre.be)

Laure brings an open-minded attitude to textile design which she cultivated in interdisciplinary workshops, exhibition projects and in company placements. She is currently working as a free-lance designer for a Belgian rug manufacturing company.

Laure Kasiers showed prototypes of a new product for interior decoration, to be used either as wall covering or space partition. It is based on an articulated surface that is strong and supple, insulating and semi transparent. The innovative combination of PVC and textile materials brings warmth and intimacy into the house, with structure, colours and shadows creating strong visual effects. Its quality and innovative nature place the product in the premium home decoration market, targeted at private consumers or contract design for office space or hotels.

Courtesy:Huntsman.