On the way to success – creative industry talents of the year awarded

The “Get in the Picture – New Talent of the Year” tender, created by the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency and Startup Campus with the professional support of the Budapest Complex Vocational Training Centre, focused on talent nurturing, inspiration, and creativity development of future professionals, has now come to an end. There was an outstanding interest in the program, it motivated students nationwide, but in the end, only six teams out of the nearly 100 candidates were awarded by the jury.

The Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency started to cooperate with Startup Campus in the autumn of 2019 to establish a value-creating fashion and design industry ecosystem in order to boost the sector. An important stage of the collaboration was the now-closed tender titled “Get in the Picture – New Talent of the Year”, which piqued interest in vocational training students all around the country and offered them a niche opportunity to implement their ideas. The award ceremony organised with the Budapest Vocational Training Centre’s professional support was attended by finalist teams not only from Budapest but Zalaegerszeg, Szeged, and Nyíregyháza as well.

The organisers expected teams of full-time fashion and design industry vocational training students to the tender on the theme “Industrial Revolutions – From the Sewing Machine to Robots” who represent the diversity and value of their profession through innovative creations and unique ideas. Altogether, 26 teams applied for the program – that is, almost 100 students submitted projects – and based on the jury’s decision, three fashion- and three design-themed teams received a prize at the April award ceremony.

The submitted entries reflected the students’ versatility: high-quality and creative works were presented by the students who used their imagination boldly and thus proved their professional abilities. In addition, the program was an outstanding opportunity for professional development and networking as well. During the competition, expert mentors helped the students by sharing their professional experiences at the consultations and assisted in the completion of the plans with their knowledge and outstanding competence. Future fashion industry professionals were accompanied by mentors such as Bence Csalár, fashion journalist and expert; Borbála Ferencz, fashion designer, and Szilvia Horváth, Head of the Fashion Department of Mod ’Art. Design industry talents were supported by Dávid Pap, Managing Director of Fablab Budapest; Sára Kele, product designer, and Máté Horváth, product designer with their professional remarks.

At the award ceremony, the students displayed their works in presentations, which perfectly demonstrated that they paid special attention to sustainability and they raised current social and cultural questions as well. The six finalist teams won valuable prizes including premium vouchers, digital tools, and the possibility to participate in professional workshops. Anita Forintos-Szűcs, Deputy General Managing Director of the HFDA, also had a role in the ceremony, she gave out the awards and participated in the jury, and she also summarised the event in a short speech: she thanked the work of mentors and teachers, highlighting the excellence of the teams’ works.

In fashion, the students of the Budapest Complex SZC Creative Vocational School, the team Scelestis won first place, followed by the SZC Wesselényi Miklós Secondary Technical School and Student Hostel’s students from Nyíregyháza, Krea – Team, while the Dekorvarázs team from the SZC Báthory István Secondary Technical School from Zalaegerszeg came in third. On the design side, the SZC Vedres István Technical School’s team, SonicON from Szeged was handed the first prize, while the Vágjuk a fát! (Let’s cut the tree!) team from the Kozma Lajos Woodworking and Creative Technical School from Budapest arrived second, and the third place was given to the Csillagok (Stars) team from the Budapest BKSZC Creative Technical School.