Swarovski Teams Up with NYFW and New York Based Designers

Fall/Winter 2015 marks the second season of a year-long support program launched in celebration of the Swarovski Collective's 15 th Anniversary. This season's New York based designers, Prabal Gurung, Rodarte, Creatures of the Wind, Wes Gordon, Misha Nonoo, Tim Coppens will also compete for the inaugural Swarovski Collective Prize for Innovation, with the chance to win 25,000 for their brand.

Founded in 1999, following Nadja Swarovski's collaboration with a young Alexander McQueen and Isabella Blow, the Collective has since supported over 150 emerging and established designers in exploring the creative boundaries of crystal use and craftsmanship. Alongside the current crop of London, US, and Paris-based designers, international talents including Alexander Wang, Hussein Chalayan, Christopher Kane, and Erdem have all previously benefitted from Swarovski's support.

For the first time, the initiative will offer a 25,000 Swarovski Collective Prize for Innovation that will be rewarded to one of the Swarovski Collective designers, based on their unique use of crystal in their Spring/Summer 2015 and Fall/Winter 2015 collections.

This year the Austrian crystal house is marking the Collective's 15th anniversary with an enhanced program that has seen the creative talents supported for a full year - Spring/Summer 2015 and Fall/Winter 2015 and next month it will award the 25,000 Swarovski Collective Prize at a special celebratory event in London held in partnership with Dazed.

Creatures of the Wind:

"The Creatures of the Wind Fall 2015 'Americana' collection is an exploration of definitive moments in American psychedelic culture. The collection is always a play on texture, pattern, and material. Working with Swarovski gives us an opportunity to add another dimension to this.Texturally, the crystal, when used densely, creates such beautiful surfaces."

Wes Gordon:

"This season's inspiration was a confident femininity inspired by the colors and textures of artist Grillo Demo.

You have to make sure that the 'marriage' between fabric and crystal is a good match.Generally, lighter fabrics work best with smaller crystals- but sometimes breaking the rules can create beautiful results."

Prabal Gurung, 6 seasons as a Swarovski Collective member, commented:

"Swarovski epitomizes both luxury and timeless design - incorporating their crystals really allows us to speak to these ideals. Secondly we use the crystal in unexpected ways that play a role in our movement to compound traditional tailoring with contemporary elements, something that always elevates the collection overall."

Misha Nonoo:

"This season's inspiration is the complexity of the woman as seen in Tracey Emin's 'The Last Great Adventure is You'. I am obsessed with light forms and I applied the Swarovski crystals to ensure a beautiful runway moment. There is a clever sexiness of sheer Versus shine thanks to Swarovski."

Tim Coppens:

"I like working with Swarovski crystals when they are integrated in the cut of the garment, almost engineered. By incorporating the crystals we've been able to add a depth and richness in texture to the fabrics."

Rodarte:

"Swarovski's beautiful and innovative crystals are essential in creating texture and dimension in our most special pieces.Each crystal reflects light and highlights our silhouettes, creating a poignant visual impact."

Nadja Swarovski, Member of the Swarovski Executive Board, commented: "Creative collaborations with fashion's most extraordinary talents have been at the heart of Swarovski's success for 120 years. We are proud that this relationship continues today, and we are delighted to crown our enhanced year-long program with a 25,000 prize awarded to one of fourteen outstanding global talents for their trailblazing work with crystal."

The Swarovski Collective will show their Autumn/Winter 2015 collections during New York, London and Paris Fashion Weeks, which take place between 12 February 11 March 2015.

About Swarovski

The Swarovski story began in 1895 when Daniel Swarovski invented a machine for cutting and polishing crystal. This machine not only revolutionized jewelry manufacturing, it has inspired the worlds of art, design, fashion and cinema for over a hundred years. Today Swarovski is the world's leading producer of precision-cut crystal and gemstones and operates over 2,350 retail outlets in about 170 countries. The company has a rich history of working with internationally acclaimed designers including Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior. Since joining the family business in 1995, Nadja Swarovski has built on this heritage by implementing a series of visionary design initiatives which have transformed the company's image, turning crystal into a much desired component in the creative industries. Nadja Swarovski is committed to supporting and celebrating design and the arts by collaborating with both new and established and designers - including Karl Lagerfeld, Christian Lacroix, Shaun Leane, Tom Dixon, John Pawson, Zaha Hadid, Mary Katrantzou, Erdem, Jason Wu, Rodarte and Anthony Vaccarello - challenging them to push the boundaries of crystal across fashion, jewelry, stage and screen, art, architecture and design.