Dolev Elron took home the Grand Prix du Jury Première Vision at the 39th International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories, Hyères, which took place from October 10 to 13, 2024 at the Clos Saint-Bernard, also known as Villa Noailles. This event, dedicated to young international creators, was launched nearly four decades ago under the name European Salon of Young Designers. It has helped make Hyères a fashion capital and has become a steppingstone for emerging talents in this field. The 10 finalists selected by the fashion jury presented their work to a panel of professionals and fashion enthusiasts.

Igor Dyerick was the triple winner last year of the Grand Prix du Jury Première Vision, the Prix Le19M des Métiers d’Art awarded by Chanel, and the Prix du Public. The Belgian designer made a name for himself last year with Yessir, a surrealist collection reflecting on the role of uniforms in the hospitality industry.

Dolev Elron, 28, is a graduate of Tel Aviv’s Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art. He now lends his talent to Acne Studios’ women’s collections, after starting out with the Swedish brand as a menswear intern. “Casual Turbulence”, the collection he presented at the Festival, twists the archetypes of men’s fashion using curves and distortions, wave effects with psychedelic overtones, on pockets, buckles and belts.

Elron was awarded by the president of the jury Nicolas Di Felice, creative director of Courrèges since 2020.

“I put images into Photoshop, which creates distortion effects like the turbulence of water," said Dolev Elron. "This creates movement, which I used as inspiration for designing my clothes, without necessarily reproducing them identically. It’s a mixture of something technical, artistic and wearable."

Winners in each discipline are awarded grants to support them in developing their future projects. Première Vision, a partner of the festival since 2011, encourages creativity and highlights the craftsmanship of young fashion professionals. In addition to connecting the competition’s finalists with exhibitors from the Première Vision Paris show for the making of their collections, PV awarded the fashion contest winner a 20,000 euros creation grant. Furthermore, there are a a collaborative project with the Métiers d’art by Chanel, worth up to 20,000 euros; an allocation of fabrics and dedicated support from Alliance for European Flax- Linen & Hemp to create one or several silhouettes to help the winner of the Grand Prix du Jury Première Vision in the development of the marketing of his future collection.

Icicle will invite the winner of the Grand Prix of the Jury Première Vision to create a capsule collection. Madame Figaro, media partner, will offer visibility and an editorial to the winner. Sterling International will grant the winner with a 1-year mentorship to advise and counsel the talent for career pathing.

The Paris-based Belgian designer Romain Bichot, who joined the atelier at Balenciaga just last month, won two prizes, the 19M Métiers d’Arts for his collaboration with Lemarié and the L’Atelier des Matières Prize for the unisex collection “Call Me if You Get Lost".

The Dallas-born, Paris-based designer Logan Monroe Goff won the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize with “Asphalt Cowboy,” a men’s collection melding tailoring and motorcycle racing.

The Israeli finalist Tal Maslavi obtained a special mention for “Sugar Rush,” a men’s collection based on instant gratification, improbable associations and unexpected materials, such as a temporary tattoo tee and even edibles, in this case a towel made of white chocolate.

Photo: Look from the collection in denim called “Casual Turbulence” by Dolev Elron