Mango and NJAL team up for 4th MFA

In its fourth year, Mango is collaborating with fashion initiative Not Just a Label on its ‘El Botón’ Mango Fashion Awards (MFA). The international fashion competition is open for budding designers across the globe, and aims to promote the

international projection of new fashion talent. Participants have the opportunity to present their collections to a jury and compete for 300,000 Euros in prize money, the largest sum in a competition of this type until this date.

NJAL wants to make sure, each of the ten finalists will receive €18,000 from Mango to cover all production costs for the collections being judged. In the competition the interests of the designers are put first, and throughout this competition there will be no transfer of intellectual property rights. The designers will retain ownership of all designs produced.

Besides partnering on the Awards, NJAL is also the official partner for the application process for next years El Botón. This way NJAL offers Mango the opportunity to communicate, interact and collaborate with over 5,000 designers from around the world. Since its launch in 2008, NJAL aims to be the source for the creative part of the fashion industry. The platform supports designers to gain exposure and finance their progression independently as well as providing an accessible retailing forum via their online shop. NJAL receives over 16 million hits per month.

The new registration period will commence on 15 February and designers will have until the end of July to present their applications. The finalists will be announced in mid-November 2011 by representatives of Mango and five international design schools including: Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, London; Institut Français de la Mode, Paris; Istituto Marangoni, Milan; Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp; and l’Escola Superior de Disseny, Barcelona.

Mango currently has a total of 1,700 stores in 100 countries across the globe, and has over 8,600 employees. Last year Lena Lumelsky took home the Mango Fashion Awards 2010.

Image: Mango Fashion Awards