Diana Vreeland documentary wins fashion award

The Design Museum has announced the category winners of its prestigious Design of the Year competition, naming the 'Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel' documentary as the Fashion Design of the Year. The feature-length documentary directed

by Lisa Immordino Vreeland, the wife of one of Vreeland's grandsons, Alexander, documents the 50-year career of the fashion editor, including her work for US Harper’s Bazaar, her time as editor-in-chief of US Vogue and her role at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Fashion

documentary wins prestigious Design Museum award

The film took the accolade ahead of strong competition, which included Giles Deacon, who was nominated for his autumn/winter 2012 collection, and Raf Simons, who was shortlisted for his debut ready-to-wear collection for Christian Dior. Other names on the shortlist included Prada for its spring/summer 2012 collection, and the costumes from Anna Karenina by Bafta and Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran.

Chair of the jury Ilse Crawford commented: “She took fashion design to another level, reaching a wider audience and creating a greater understanding of the fashion world.

“So many of her achievements are taken for granted, for example the fact that she brought fashion into the context of the museum. And she never stopped. The longevity of her career is quite astounding.”

Jury member, Griff Rhys Jones added: “This year the fashion category contained many icons of the fashion world but we felt that this documentary gave us a chance to recognise and celebrate a lifetime of contributions from Diana Vreeland.”

While the Diana Vreeland documentary may have taken the fashion category, the overall winner of the Design of the Year 2013 prize has yet to be name. The fashion film will be up against the winners of the other categories, which are Architecture, Digital, Furniture, Graphics, Products and Transport. The winner will be announced on April 16.