CSM 2020 Award Winners

For the 12th year Theo Fennell have sponsored the BA Jewellery Design show at Central Saint Martins and presented their annual design awards. Two students were awarded in two categories set by Theo Fennell – Best Design Proposal and Best Online Project.

This year was a first for the awards, which are traditionally held at the Central St Martins campus. Due to the COVID 19 crisis Central St Martins was forced to rethink their presentations and exhibitions, re-imagining them in a digital space. Students were tasked with virtually presenting their designs to Theo – with each student given only a few minutes to talk through their inspirations, year’s work and final piece. A further physical show will be hosted in January 2021, again sponsored by Theo Fennell, where Theo will be presenting two additional awards: Best Overall Piece and Best Technical Prize.

The Winners

Best Design Proposal: Olivia Woodhouse

Olivia’s collection explores the female body and simultaneously critiques its idealisation. By using suggestive “womanly” fruits such as peaches and pomegranates and manipulating them into chains, pendants, and rings, she conveys the ways that women are constrained from using their bodies freely. Olivia’s jewellery adopts glass as a symbol of fragility and strength, offering an alternative perspective to society’s view of the female body solely as a reproductive tool.

Best Online Visual Identity/Presentation: Hannah Bourn

Hannah’s collection explores the close connection between the human body and nature. She focusses on preserving organic forms and shapes whilst transforming natural objects collected from the seashore into pieces of jewellery. Drawing inspiration from biophilic design, which reconnects humans to nature, Hannah uses shells, pearls, and seaweed, adapting them for adornment of the human body. With minimal intervention in the raw material, she explores the fluidity of the shapes, highlighting their delicate beauty by using precious metals to breathe life back into their inanimate forms.

“As always we are thrilled to sponsor the CSM Degree show and to give our annual prizes. This year has obviously been quite a challenge and the students and staff should be very proud of the way they have managed through this very difficult time. There is some fantastic work and some deeply thought out projects and, as usual, it has been very difficult to separate the best.”

THEO FENNELL