BARCELONA, Apr 29, 2009 / FW/ — Korean-born Jin Youn Lee won the highly coveted El Boton – Mango Fashion Award which has a purse of 300,000 euros (approximately US$400,000 at current exchange rates), the largest sum offered to date in a competition of this kind.
Already a winner of two fashion design awards in his home country, Jin Youn Lee, who is a holder of a doctorate in Fashion Design from Hong Kong University, launched his label at Seoul Fashion Week during the Fall 2004 season and had continued to unveil his collections there since then.
To win the award, Lee had to compete with the original 200 contestants which were whittled down to 10 finalists. Like his fellow finalists, Jin Youn Lee had five months to create a 10-outfit collection which was submitted to the jury for deliberation.
Finalists include Spanish designer Silvia García Presas, UK designer Jean Pierre Braganza, UK designing duos Fiona Sinha and Aleksandar Stanic and Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos, Czech designer Jakub Polanka, Belgian designer Christian Wijnants, German duo Miriam Lehle and Sabina Egler, South Korean designer Jin Youn Lee, New Zealand designer Alex Kim and Australian designer Josh Goot.
The Board of Judges which is chaired by Oscar De La Renta, met for two days to assess and analyze the collections of the 10 finalists.
The jury is composed of Oscar de la Rentra, Nina Garcia of Marie Claire and Project Runway, Laura Larbalestier of Selfridges, Armand Hadida of L’Eclaireur, Tiziana Cardini of Rinascente, fashion consultant Jean Jacques Picart, fashion model Veronica Blume, fashion icon Jerry Hall, Sandrina Fasoli and Michael Marson, last year’s winners, Mariano Vivanco, fashion photographer, Isak Andic Chairman of Mango, Damian Sanches, Managing Partner and Creative Director of Mango.
All the collections submitted by the finalists are being exhibited from April 27 to May 2nd in Barcelona’s emblematic Paseo de Gracia.
