Four students advance to the semifinals of the Louis Vuitton competition

A major success for the School of Design: Four students from two degree programs have advanced to the semifinals of the “Louis Vuitton Accessories Design Graduates Initiative” competition. 

The competition aims to promote international emerging talent and develop innovative design concepts in the field of accessories. For the third time, the School of Design has been selected—as one of two German partner universities, alongside 36 other renowned design schools from around the world.

As part of the competition, the students developed, among other things, innovative designs for leather goods. Four of them have now made it to the semifinals out of a total of 242 submissions:

Manuel Engl, Bachelor of Industrial Design

Charlotte Finzel, Master’s in Creative Direction (with a background in Communication Design)

Anjes Kubiak, Master’s in Creative Direction (with a background in Communication Design)

Sara Sadeghi, Master’s in Creative Direction (with a background in Industrial Design)

The finalists will be selected at the end of April. They will travel to Paris for the exclusive final round in May to present their projects to the jury. For the first time, the winner will receive a permanent position. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to gain experience in various departments for leather goods and accessories at Louis Vuitton over a period of up to 30 months.

Professor Thomas Gerlach, who oversees the collaboration with Louis Vuitton, is proud:

“We are delighted that Louis Vuitton has chosen us as a partner in the German-speaking region for the third time. But we are even more pleased with the success of our students in their collaboration with the company. As Louis Vuitton confirms, this collaboration yields forward-thinking concepts for the luxury of tomorrow at the highest level. The key to this is our interdisciplinary and creative approach, in which talents from various design fields come together to envision the future and design inspiring products.”

Last year, Joelle Recktenwald made a strong impression. The industrial design graduate traveled to Paris as a finalist at the invitation of Louis Vuitton. During a two-day program, she and 13 other finalists gained exclusive insights into the creative and artisanal world of the luxury brand.