Hannah Jinkins’ prize-winning collection

Design awards are big news, especially when they’re created by some of the industry’s top names. Don’t forget 1954 when both Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld won the International Wool Secretariat’s prize – and look what happened to both of them.

Anyway, yesterday in London, Hannah Jinkins became the latest name to be tipped for stardom when she was announced as the winner of the H&M Design Award 2016. She’s a graduate from the Royal College of Art, London, and was selected from eight international finalists (their collections are below) by a jury that included Olivier Rousteing, Kate Bosworth, and Nick Knight.

And it’s not just the fact of winning that counts. but the practical effects it can have on her career. She wins a one-year mentorship from H&M, a prize of €50,000 and the opportunity to develop her winning collection to be sold in selected H&M stores as well as online in AW16.

The jury with Hannah: l to r Margareta van den Bosch, Floriane de Saint Pierre, Chiara Ferragni, Katy England, Hannah Jinkins, Nick Knight, Ann-Sofie Johansson, Olivier Rousteing, Kate Bosworth

And what’s so good about Hannah? Over to the experts…

“[She] is amazing. She has her own unique vision. She has such strong energy, she’s modern, young and really knows what she wants. She works with a tough fabric, yet somehow manages to make it sexy and glamorous at the same time,” said Balmain’s Rousteing.

“Hannah is really brilliant. She has the ability to balance so many difficult things, like the raw with the refined, or something very grown up with something more youthful,” added Kate Bosworth.

Meanwhile Ann-Sofie Johansson, creative advisor for H&M, said Hannah’s collection “is very contemporary, with a real understanding of a woman’s body. It feels like something very new in womenswear.”

Jinkins, who wants to start her own label, created a balance between tough fabrics like raw denim and inner linings of silk. Her silhouettes are oversized yet feminine, showing a real understanding of the female body, H&M said.

See what you think of her collection (above) and also have a look at what her fellow finalists offered up during the special fashion show in London yesterday.

Gabriel Castro

Enoch Chung

Ka Wa Key Chow

Milligan Beaumont

Patrik Guggenberger

Long Xu

Jemma Beech