The 30th edition of the Hyères Festival will take place from April 23rd to 27th, 2015, at Villa Noailles. The exhibitions inaugurated on this occasion will be on display until May 24, 2015.

The festival directed by Jean -Pierre Blanc and headed by Didier Grumbach, has been encouraging and supporting emerging talents in fashion and photography for the past 30 years. Thanks to its tight bond with leading fashion brands and businesses, the contest has been able to help young designers to break through the creative industry, by giving them an international exposure, as well as the possibility to compete for important awards and financial support.

The guest of honor of this year is the French luxury house Chanel, and its creative director Karl Lagerfeld, who will be at the helm of this edition. Virginie Viard, Chanel’s Design Studio Director, has been appointed President of the Festival’s fashion jury; while Chanel’s Image Director, Eric Pfrunder is going to preside over the photography jury.

This year’s finalists of the fashion contest are: Anna Bornhold, Christina Braun, Yiyu Chen, Sophie Harand, Heini-Maria Hynynen & Elina Aarela, Elina Maattanen, Guillem Rodriguez Bernat, Annelie Schubert, Wieke Sinnige.

This year’s finalists of the photography contest are: Jeannie Abert, Sushant Chhabria, Sjoerd Knibbeler, Wawrzyniec Kolbusz, Evangelia Kranioti, David Magnusson, Filippo Patrese, Thomas Rousset, Polly Tootal and Oezden Yorulmaz.

Hailing from Netherlands, France, Finland, Germany, Poland, Spain, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Idia and Taiwan, the shortlisted talents reflect the cosmopolitan nature of the prize.

The selected fashion designers will showcase their works to an all-star jury, which includes renowned personalities, fashion designers and editors, such as Caroline de Maigret, Anthony Vaccarello, and Carine Roitfeld, among others. As for the photography contest, the jury consists of a panel of experts in the art field such as the gallerist Kamel Mennour, the photographer Sølve Sundsbø and the artist André Saraiva, among others.

For more information, please consult Villa Noailles’ website.

Picture courtesy of Hyères Festival.