With almost a decade of experience sprinting around New York in vertiginous Manolo Blahniks, playing fashion pioneer and TV’s favourite sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw (with an even more impeccable wardrobe in And Just Like That), and an eponymous shoe brand approaching its 10-year anniversary, it’s safe to say Sarah Jessica Parker knows fashion.
But, even experts can never know enough. It’s why the entrepreneur partnered with Etsy this year as a judge for the fifth Design Awards, a competition conceived to amplify the voices of young designers and small businesses. ‘It's been really interesting, and fun being introduced to a bunch of new designers that I was unaware of,’ says Parker, fresh from judging this year’s cohort of newest and brightest talent.
Cherry-picking the next faces of fashion out of thousands of designers globally (eventually narrowed down to 150 finalists) to take home titles ranging from ‘Winner’s Choice Award’ (chosen by the previous four winners of the awards) to the $25,000 Grand Prize Winner, wasn't an easy feat for Parker ‘because it’s hard to judge one form of discipline against another’.
Read Next
However, an enriching aspect of the experience, as a consumer and an insider, was familiarising herself with the functionality and construction of this year’s pieces. Case in point: Maria Gabriela Duque, the recipient of the Grand Prize, and an electrical engineering student-come-self-taught-designer fashioned a handmade forest-green, vegan cactus handbag.
'There’s a lot about Maria that's exciting and her efforts towards sustainability,’ Parker says. ‘She works with her sister, they do this all by hand, every single piece is entirely by hand. It’s very interesting to see that her discipline and her study of engineering plays, in my eyes, such an interesting role in just form and shape and volume of the bag and proportion, and you can see it.’
As a handbag connoisseur, thinking about the versatility of Duque’s handbag was at the forefront of Parker’s mind while judging the winning product. ‘The functionality of the bag is what women often are looking for; they want something that is going to look good in the day and the night, and that can be worn around the waist or across your body.’
It was also Duque’s emphasis on sustainability and finding techniques to foster a planet-friendly way to create garments that intrigued the judging panel, and should be integral to the blueprint of any young designer’s career path, Parker continues: ‘I think sustainability is unavoidable. It was a highlight when designers in the competition factored it in or if it was a part of their design process. Not everybody can do that, but when it's something that can be included, and can be used, I think it’s becoming commonplace for consumers to be interested. They want to see that sustainability is a part of the way we produce things.’
Her involvement in the panel this year has meant Parker has uncovered a love for home décor, too. ‘I had begun saving things in my cart that I didn't even recognise or realise that I would want in my home, from ceramic chain plants to lighting fixtures. Finding out what drives each artist and inspires them was a bonus.’
Post-competition, Parker keeps up with the finalists and is enjoying watching the evolution of their businesses. ‘You get very excited about their futures, you know?', Parker explains, 'If they have the support they need, and even if they didn't win, having some financial stipend that speaks to the prominence we feel they have, is great. If an award [like this] can bring more attention to what they're doing, I think that's fantastic.’
As for her advice to young designer’s looking to bolster the profile of their business or those who are struggling creatively? 'Remain authentic,' she emphasises. ‘It’s about originality and not looking left or right but rather staying focused. It’s scary to do things that are different but commit to what excites you the most.’
