ITS 2016 marked 15 years of the International Talent Support competition divided into 4 separated fields - ITS Fashion, ITS Accessories, ITS Jewelry, and ITS Artwork - each with their own dedicated contest, jury and awards which were assigned during the Finals on July 16th 2016. Furthermore, the competition this year was about sustainability, making it a key criteria for award-winners.

Barbara Franchin launched International Talent Support in 2002. It aims to showcase and support the young designers all over the planet. Most importantly, it created a network that supports creativity.
This year, the competition took place in Trieste from July 15-16, given this year's 11 finalists.

The juries were composed of the most respected names in this field including designers, opinion leaders, trendsetters and more. Amongst them, Demna Gvasalia - VETEMENTS' designer and founder, Balenciaga’s artistic director; Giovanni Pungetti - Maison Margiela’s CEO; Mats Nilsson - Ikea’s creative leader; Vivienne Becker - Jewelry Historian; Iris Van Herpen - fashion designer and Kim Young-Seong - head of fabrics at CHANEL, to name few.

Winners of ITS 2016:

FASHION
>ITS Award 10,000 euros: Mayako Kano New Zealand
>OTB Award 5,000 euros + possibility of an internship in one of the group's brands: Anna Bornhold Germany and Niels Gundtoft Hansen Denmark

ACCESSORIES
>ITS Award 10,000 euros: Helen Kirkum Great Britain
>YKK Award 10,000 euros: Young Jin Jang South Korea

JEWELRY
>ITS Prize 10,000 euros: Sari Rathel Germany
>Swarovski Prize 10,000 euros: Tatiana Lobanova Kazakhstan

ARTWORK
>ITS Prize 10,000 euros: Marco Baitella Italy
>Swatch Prize 5,000 euros + paid internship at Swatch: Jana Zornik Slovenia

Partner's Special Awards

>Modateca Deanna Award €3,000 + a 4-week participation in the CKM - Creative Knitwear Master Course offered by Modateca Deanna: Anna Bornhold

>Vogue Talents Award Publication on the Vogue Talents website of a photo shoot of the winner’s collection + interview. Winner’s profile to be also featured in the Vogue Italia supplement: Helen Kirkum

>Generali Future Award a cash reward + tailored insurance product offered by Generali: Justin Smith, one of the previous edition’s winners.

More Info: International Talent Support