Meet H&M's Design Award Winner

Central Saint Martin´s  graduate Richard Quinn was awarded with the annual H&M Design Award in London yesterday, granting him €50,000, a year's mentorship, and the chance to develop pieces from his winning collection to be sold in the high-street store.

“We all fell in love with Richard. He has a clear vision for his brand, and a real wow factor in his collections. Richard is deeply creative, with a very holistic view of the environment, and he’s a worthy winner of the H&M Design Award 2017,” said Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M’s creative advisor.

Johansson was joined on the jury by Imran Amed, editor-in-chief of Business of Fashion, Pernille Teisbaek, founder and creative director of Social Zoo, Zanita Whittington, creative director of Azalle and Zanita Studio, Yasmin Sewell, fashion director of Style.com, Hannah Jinkins, winner of the H&M Design Award 2016 and Margareta van den Bosch, creative advisor to H&M.

The judges were most impressed with 26-year-old Quinn's fabrics, which he prints himself using ethical processes in his studio in east London, where he plans to open a creative space to become an inspiring centre for other young designers in the capital.

"It means so much to win the H&M Design Award," said Quinn. "I want to create my own collection, as well as offer my generation a creative hub, supporting real craft in London."

Quinn beat seven other finalists to the top spot. Constance Blackaller, Yu Li Song, Alex Huang, Amir Marc, Max Luo, YuTyng Chiu and Chen Peng were all highly commended and were each awarded €5,000.