Ximon Lee – the first ever menswear designer to win the H&M Design Award
The winner of the H&M Design Award 2015 is Ximon Lee, a 24 year-old graduate from Parsons in New York. He is the first menswear designer to receive the award, and today he presented his winning collection at a fashion show during Fashion Week Stockholm. In addition to the show, Ximon has won €50,000 and the chance to develop pieces from his collection to be sold at selected H&M stores and online later this autumn.
“Ximon’s collection captivated the jury with its contemporary yet poetic mood, with a strong feeling for fabric and an incredible attention to detail,” says Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M’s head of design for New Development.
“I think he is an incredible accomplished designer. He had everything; his research was beautiful, the fabric development was really accomplished and his design was good,” says Luella Bartley, Design Director of Marc by Marc Jacobs and member of the jury.
Ximon, originally from Hong Kong, China, but now based in New York, was selected by an international jury in London. His innovative collection creates layers of organic and synthetic textures, including materials such as plastic and cardboard, to build exaggerated forms which sit away from the body. These new silhouettes are still identifiably garments, but which push menswear forward in their cut and shape. Key inspiration was the documentary Children of Leningradsky, with Ximon travelling to Russia to create his own personal moodboards for the collection.
This year’s jury included:
Luella Bartley, Design Director of Marc by Marc Jacobs
Lucinda Chambers, Fashion Director of British Vogue
Paula Goldstein di Principe, Creative Director
Tommy Ton, Visual Journalist
Angelo Flaccavento, Freelance Fashion Critic
Justin O’Shea, Buying Director for Mytheresa.com
Lily Allen, Singer/Songwriter
Ann-Sofie Johansson, Head of Design, New Development, H&M
Margareta van den Bosch, Creative Advisor, H&M
“It’s very street, its very art inspired, it’s very architectural, it’s very individual but at the same time it is approachable because you can see the story and history behind everything that he does. There is a lot of promise in him, we all saw that and we felt unanimously he was the front runner,” says Tommy Ton.
“I was stunned when they announced I was the winner. The H&M Design Award means so much to me at the beginning of my career – I cannot imagine how I’d start my own label without it. My collection was designed as menswear but I’m excited to see it also worn by women,” says Ximon Lee.
For more information about the H&M Design Award, please visit designaward.hm.com