DESIGNING MINDS: Jonathan Anderson has scooped one of four medals for creative achievement and excellence as part of London Design Festival, which runs from Saturday to Sept. 20 in the British capital.
The Dior creative director and founder of JW Anderson is the winner of the London Design Medal, with other awards going to Sir Christopher Frayling, the cultural historian and academic; Anab Jain, the designer and filmmaker; Solveiga Pakštaitė, an industrial designer who specializes in user-centered and sustainable creations.
Frayling’s award is for lifetime achievement, while Jain’s is for design innovation and Pakštaitė’s is for emerging design.
Festival organizers said Anderson “bridges high fashion with a curatorial design ethos and has become a defining voice in fashion. He has been guided by his unique design aesthetic, which presents a contemporary interpretation of masculinity and femininity.”
They described Anderson as a “champion of craft and art. Throughout his career he has curated exhibitions at The Hepworth Wakefield and the Offer Waterman gallery, and founded the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, the first international award for contemporary craft in 2016.”
Anderson said the award “is incredibly special to me. It is a true honor to be recognized by the LDF for my work within the field of craft and design, which has always been a personal passion of mine.”
The winners will receive their medals at a ceremony on Monday evening at RH London, The Gallery in Mayfair.
“This year’s medal winners demonstrate the transformative power of design, from Jonathan Anderson’s work blending high fashion, art and craft, to Sir Christopher Frayling’s lifelong dedication to design education and cultural history; Anab Jain’s pioneering work in speculative futures, and Solveiga Pakštaitė’s solutions for intuitive, inclusive and considered design,” said Ben Evans, London Design Festival director and cofounder.
“Each medal recipient exemplifies how creative innovation shapes our culture, industry and shared future,” he added.
London Design Festival was established in 2003 by Evans and Sir John Sorrell. Its aim is to celebrate and promote London as the world’s design capital. The event has become a key calendar moment of London’s autumn creative season, alongside London Fashion Week, Frieze Art Fair and the London Film Festival.
