Royal College of Art graduate Hannah Jinkins wins H&M Design Award

“Theyre all winners” said Kate Bosworth, actress and panellist at the finals of the eight designers shortlisted for the fourth annual H&M Design Award in London yesterday.

But alas, only one young designer could be anointed with the 2016 prize, and this year it went to Royal College of Art MA graduate Hannah Jinkins.The 20-year-old admitted that she was “overwhelmed” at scooping the award.Bosworth and the esteemed panel judges praised Jinkins for her “ability to balance so many difficult things, like the raw with the refined, or something very grown up with something more youthful.”

And said panel should know; it consisted of Bosworth; Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing; stylist Katy England; visionary photographer Nick Knight and H&M creative director Ann-Sofie Johansson.

The prize will help a young designer such as Jinkins progress quickly; she will receive €50,000 in funding and mentoring from H&M for the next year.Today she will fly out to Stockholm to begin work on a capsule collection that will be sold in the Swedish retailers stores next autumn.In-between she will work on a business plan to attempt to make her label commercially viable.

Jinkins described her winning collection as “creating something that was tough and with a lot of grit about it but it was also comfortable and practical and wearable, and it had that femininity of being pulled in at the waist and had the silk lining, and it was that balance of contrasts.”

Fashion plate Bosworth had buckets of sympathy for all the contestants."I know it sounds clichéd but they are all winners.I said this as soon I walked into the deliberating room.I said this is a group of winners, were not looking at someone who is losing, These are all incredibly talented people who will have long careers, you know."

Five out of the eight students shortlisted for the award studied in London, either at Central Saint Martins or the Royal College of Art. Runner-up Jemma Beech, a CSM graduate, impressed with her collection of abstract, tapestry-inspired pieces interspersed with bright beading and digital prints.

Ka Wa Key Chow, of the Royal College of Art, put an Impressionist-inspired spin on menswear with his watercolour-esque raffia woven coats and jumpers made from biodegradable plastic in pastel hues that recalled Claude Monets famous Water Lilies painting.