From September 28 to October 1, 2017, the final of the XVIII International Competition of Young Designers Generation NEXT was held in St. Petersburg as part of the 50th anniversary International Exhibition of Light and Textile Industry Fashion Industry».

Last year's winners were awarded at the opening ceremony of the exhibition. Olga Korobova and Anastasia Ivanova, – who received prizes from VO «FAREXPO».

In the final of the competition were presented: 32 projects in the direction of «Textiles»; 29 projects in the direction of «Costume» (clothing) and 5 projects in the direction of «Suit» (accessories and shoes); 30 projects – «Graphic design». The competition was attended by representatives of 16 educational institutions of higher and secondary vocational education in Russia, two retraining schools and several copyright trademarks. Participants from Maykop, Tula, Vologda, as well as representatives of the Omsk School of design came to the competition for the first time. Students of the Vilnius Art Academy and the Botsen-Bolzano Free Institute from Italy sent their works.

The jury noted the high level of competitive works in all directions, the variety of topics with the general literacy of execution, modernity and the exact targeted orientation of the design. Of particular interest were the nominations «Prom sample» and «Shoes and accessories». The finalists were shown with great success in the direction of «Costume» on the podium of the exhibition.

In the direction of «Textiles» the leading place among young colleagues has been retained by Anastasia Ivanova with a collection of swim fabrics «Graphics of contrasts» (SPbGHPA named after A.L. Stiglitz). The winner in the direction of «Costume» according to the unanimous opinion of the jury was Olga Matyukhina with a collection of men's clothing models «#Pinkogram» (SPbGUPTD). In the direction of «Graphic design» won Elizabeth Aviemskaya with project graphics «F 63.9» (SPbGHPA named after A.L. Stieglitz).

All participants of the final exposition, as well as their managers, received diplomas of the international competition "Generation NEXT".

On the eve of the final, online voting was traditionally held on the websiteModaNews.ru . The greatest number of votes were received by the collection of textile crocs «Flowers of Dreams» by Kristina Skorokhodova (IVSPU) and the collection «#Pinkogram of Olga Matyukhina (SPbGUPTD). Ilya Tikhonov awarded the winners with books from the publishing house "CONLIGA MEDIA", and also awarded the author of the collection "Wolf" your way" Marina Savina (Uralgakhu, Yekaterinburg) with a special prize "interview on portal ModaNews.ru .

During the exhibition, the public jury voted for the works of young designers that they liked. In the direction of «Textiles», the collection «Walking with Hounds» by Olga Korobova received the largest number of votes. In the direction of «Costume» the public liked the collection of clothing models «Arctic». The author of this work, Maria Pica (SPbGUPTD), also received a diploma of commercial recognition "I would buy". Among the prom samples, the first place was taken by the transformer dress Margarita Nikitina (TM RITA NIKITINA), and the best accessories were bags and shoes Ksenia Dulesova (SPbGHPA named A.L. Stiglitz). In the direction of «Graphic design», the monograph «Knitwear in design received the largest number of votes. Design in knitwear by Alexandra Savelyeva (SPbGUPTD), a series of fashion illustrations by Tatiana Prokopenko (Don State Technical University, Rostov-on-Don), project graphics by Ksenia Dulesova and Elizabeth of Avim (SPbGHPA named after A.L. Stiglitz), advertising poster Victoria Sudarushkina (SPbGUPTD) and a series of photos Svetlana Bykova and Natalia Savostina (Creative duo MAGIC, Nizhny Novgorod).

According to the results of the competition, St. Petersburg Union of Designers invited Olga Matyukhina to take part in the international biennale "Modulor", which will be held in November 2017 in St. Petersburg. The winners of the contest will receive personal stands at the spring exhibition "Fashion Industry" and will be able to try themselves as professional participants of this business forum.

The competition of young designers «Generation NEXT» has been held since 2009 by the exhibition association «FAREXPO» with the support of the National Academy of Fashion Industry and the Internet portal ModaNews.ru . The purpose of the contest is to support students and young professionals of the fashion industry at the stage of creating their own brands and at the beginning of building a professional career, creating conditions for the exchange of experience between educational institutions of higher and secondary vocational education, vocational training (retraining) schools.