F.Hinds and IJL High Street By Design 2010/2011 Winners

SIAN  HUGHES  -  NEWLY  ESTABLISHED  DESIGNER  CATEGORY

ROSIE VELK  -  STUDENT  DESIGNER  CATEGORY

F.Hinds and International Jewellery London (IJL) are delighted to announce the two winners of the High Street By Design 2010/2011 jewellery design competition. Sian Hughes from Worcester won the Newly Established Designer Category with her Folded Heart Collection and Rosie Velk from Letchworth won the Student Designer Category with her Fan Collection.

“Winning the HSBD competition is just the step I needed to link my designs and knowledge with F.Hinds’ commanding high street presence”, said Rosie Velk (Student Designer).

The F.Hinds/IJL High Street By Design Competition 2010/2011 was launched last year (and continues this year) to assist two jewellery designers through the whole process, from original concept and creating a design to be manufactured in volume, through packaging, promotion and launch to the sale of their finished jewellery pieces in F.Hinds’ 110 stores across England and Wales and its website.

The judging panel included Andrew Hinds – F.Hinds, Director and Gold Buyer; Bob Morrish – R. E. Morrish jewellery manufacturer/IJL Exhibitor; Sarah Jordan – Award Winning Jewellery Designer; Sam Willoughby – IJL Event Co-Director and a consumer representative. Since winning the competition everyone on the panel, plus many more behind the scenes at F.HInds, have been involved with helping Rosie and Sian get their designs into F.Hinds 110 stores.

“The objective of this competition was to open up the route to the high street”, said Andrew Hinds, “which can appear to be strewn with challenges or even a complete mystery. Our aspiration was to give the winners an in-depth experience of all the steps from sketch to final sale. We have promoted the winning pieces in all our stores and online and every piece sold is individually numbered. We also have plans to see how we can work with Rosie and Sian in the future”.

“When I was learning all the techniques and skills I needed for jewellery manufacture, I was able to sit alongside craftsmen and women and learn from them”, said Bob Morrish, Birmingham based jewellery manufacturer. “I aimed to replicate that one-to-one experience for Rosie and Sian as it seems to have disappeared now that apprenticeships are a thing of the past”.

Sian and Rosie will be speaking at the High Street By Design seminar at IJL on Tuesday 6th September 2011 at 10.00am and the winning designs can be seen in the seating area within the Design Gallery.