H&M designer and other fashion gurus are coming to Riga!

On 16 April world-renowned fashion experts — Margareta van den Bosch, Claudia Arend, Giovanni Ottonello, Emmanuelle Bresson, and Andrej Subarew — will arrive in Riga, and on the morning of 17 April will take their seats at the Habitus Baltija 2015 competition panel of judges to choose the best young fashion designer. The panel of judges also includes Latvian fashion experts!

This year a record number of 14 schools from 10 countries will compete for the title of Best Fashion School, while the judges will choose the best young fashion designer out of 44 clothing collections from 10 countries.

“I love my job, but my favourite part is being a judge and evaluating the efforts of new talents,” says Margareta van den Bosch, Creative Adviser and long-time Senior Designer for H&M, who lives in Sweden and has agreed to chair the Habitus Baltija panel of judges.

Margareta is currently in charge of all H&M collaboration collections with the biggest fashion houses and celebrities. When asked where she gets her inspiration, the designer does not hesitate: “At London’s flea markets and textile fairs in Paris. The hardest task is to create ready-to-wear pieces, yet surprise consumers with something new every time!”

ESMOD Paris representative Emmanuelle Bresson from France and Professor Claudia Arend from Germany’s AMD Academy of Fashion and Design, whose passion is fashion drawings and illustrations, will also be among the judges. Andrej Subarew, Baltic Fashion Award creative director and fashion designer, will also arrive in Riga from Germany.

Professor Giovanni Ottonello from Italy’s European Institute of Design (Istituto Europeo di Design) who advises well-known brands such as Bottega Veneta, Hugo Boss, La Martina, Mandarina Duck, Rubelli, etc. will also return as a member of the Habitus Baltija panel of judges.

Latvian success story
Among the judges you will also see marketing specialist Annika Vītola who works in Copenhagen, Paris and New York as the International Sales Director of the marketing agency VALD Agency, and can be safely called a Latvian success story.She is responsible for the daily promotion of collection sales and marketing of 14 designers under the agency’s wing, including Henrik Vibskov, Anne Sofie Madsen and Arielle de Pinto.

The panel of judges also includes Latvian fashion experts!
Elena Strahova, Anita Sedliņa, Indra Miklāva, Olga Kolotova, and Oļegs Zernovs are people who need no introduction in the Latvian fashion industry, and will be a part of the strict yet fair panel of judges.

For more than 15 years Elena Strahova has been the president of the Baltic Fashion Federation, and since 2004 the main producer of Riga Fashion Week. Anita Sedliņa is the former fashion editor of fashion and style magazine Pastaiga, and currently works as an independent fashion journalist writing for magazines such as Pastaiga, OK! and others.

Virtually no Latvian fashion magazine cover has been made without a touch from stylist Olga Kolotova and photographer Oļegs Zernovs. This competition would not be the same without them! This will not be the first time for Olga on the Habitus Baltija panel of judges, while it will be something completely new for Oļegs, one of the best fashion photographers in the Baltics. Olga is currently the Fashion Director at the publishing house Rīgas Viļņi and co founder of Riga Fashion & Photo School, while Oļegs is the first and so far only holder of the First Degree ADwards Mastery Order.

Indra Miklāva is a clothing and accessory designer, and since 2012 also the co owner and designer of the shirt and blouse brand I'M Your Shirt. By the way, it was in Habitus Baltija where Indra started her designer career in 2007 with the collection Black Label in cooperation Artis Štamgūts, and in 2008 with the menswear collection Āda which was awarded the Grand Prix.

The international panel of 11 judges will evaluate the originality and garment quality of the Habitus Baltija 2015 participant collections. More about members of the panel of judges: http://ej.uz/kbpc

As previously announced, the young fashion designer competition Habitus Baltija 2015 will take place on 17 April in Ķīpsala, showcasing 44 clothing collections by 46 fashion designers from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Croatia, Russia, Turkey, and Belarus. Event programme: http://ej.uz/sxt9

The competition is organised by the International Exhibition Company BT 1 in cooperation with the Art Academy of Latvia. The official Habitus Baltija 2015 vehicle is Renault, the official delicacy — Skrīveri home-made ice-cream, the official coffee — CoffeeInn, the official beverage — wines from Līgatne Winery. Supporters: Riga Tourism Development Bureau, Goethe Institute, the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia, Mūsa Motors Rīga, Buržuja brokastis, Electra, Birutas Mageles International School of Stylists, Gosh, Paul Mitchell, model agency Vacatio, Travel & Right, RīgaTV 24, and Wolfstudio.

The competition takes place simultaneously with the International Textile Industry Fair Baltic Fashion & Textile RIGA 2015. Fair tickets are valid for Habitus Baltija 2015 fashion shows. Find out more at: http://ej.uz/7kmn

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