Hermès design award seeks applicatio​ns

The Prix Émile Hermès is an international design award reflecting the core commitments of the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès, to promote expert skills and creativity. The competition is open to designers across

the globe and the prize aims to discover and encourage emerging design talent, reflecting the parallel aims of the Foundation’s programmes in the visual and performing arts.

As a major international Prize, its considerations are central to development in all its forms: the manufacturing and industrial expertise required to produce the designs entered, and most importantly of all, their environmental impact, in the context of mankind’s continuing quest for better quality of life.

The prize launched in 2008 to support artisans

Launched in 2008, the Prix Émile Hermès prize has been awarded to purposeful designers whose work embodies the notion that a higher-quality life can be achieved through design. By supporting the artisan skills of blossoming designers, Hermès simultaneously shines a light on its own craftsmanship.

In 2008, the Fondation d’enterprise Hermès received 700 submissions for its “Everyday Lightness” Prix Émile Hermès award. The 2011 competition grew in popularity with 1,460 designers from 63 countries entering for the “Heat, me-heat, re-heat” edition. The competition’s growing submissions shows that the Prix Émile Hermès has been significant in launching the careers of international designers.

The competition places a heavy emphasis on creativity and artisan skills that must be followed through from initial design to prototype.

Prix Émile Hermès is named after Émile Hermès who lead his family’s brand toward innovation during his three-decade long tenure. This was accomplished by expanding the company's product range, its focus on the relationship between craftsman and product and his revolutionary and innovative design ideas.

With this in mind, the prize is awarded to the design that will be most applicable in creating a sustainable future by taking a responsible, eco-friendly approach.

Applications are open until 17 November 2013.

Image: Prix Emile Hermes