Etsy Names Annual Design Award Winners
Encouraging and supporting homegrown designers is gaining traction and Etsy is doing its part with the second annual Etsy Design Awards.
The talent pool was filled with thousands of applicants aiming for the top prizes. After whittling that down to 100 finalists, Etsy has decided on the winners and is revealing them today. Actress and entrepreneur Drew Barrymore and Etsy’s trend authority and NBC’s “Making It” judge Dayna Isom Johnson helped with the selections.
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The 2020 Grand Prize of $15,000 went to Canadian brothers Adrian and Martinus Pool for their Recycled Skateboard Credenza, which repurposes old skateboards to eliminate excess waste. Like all of the winning designs, that is being sold via the site.
Each of the winners for individual categories received $1,000.
This year’s winner for Clothing was awarded for Noemie Vaillancourt’s Celine Silk Dress. Like the Pool brothers, she hails from Canada and plays up sustainability. She used natural materials to create art-inspired designs with floral motifs. The designer’s knack for styling the dress and taking “editorial quality” photos to showcase the garment’s design and versatility won over Barrymore.
The Weddings honor was won for Celestial Wedding Dress that was made by Lithuania-based designer Inge Staylte. The designer is known for made-to-measure bespoke designs that offer inclusive sizing and emphasize the comfort factor.
The 2020 Vintage award was awarded for Embellished Blazer, a design created by the Germany-based stylist and writer Mary Brenda, whose vintage finds come with poems that she has written. The verse is inspired by the purchase itself.
The top prize for Bags, Shoes and Accessories went to Wood Clutch, a handbag created by an Israeli duo, who are among some of the winners that prefer to remain anonymous. The pair specializes in three-dimensional wooden textiles.
The Jewelry prize was given to the Seed Dangle Bracelet that Mexican industrial designer Mai Solorzano created. The bracelet was inspired by and created with molds of tiny seeds from trees in Buenos Aires.
Etsy’s Kids award was won for the Personalized Wood Dolls created by Lithuanian designer Aleksandrs Berlinsky. Designed to last, the dolls are meant to be used as a way for children to express their feelings, fears and experiences.
An American designer, Dani Barbe from Colorado, captured the first annual People’s Choice Award — that came with a $5,000 windfall. Barbe was popular for her Ombré Green Stacking Ring.
A Test Tube Chandelier by the Polish artist and designer Magda Jurek was singled out for the Home & Living category. Jurek’s creation of laboratory test tubes set in two plywood brands was inspired by Madame Marie Skłodowska-Curie, a winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911 and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903.
The Paper & Party category standout was for Custom Illustrated Cards by a U.K.-based designer, who created handmade customized paper gifts and preferred not to be identified. Another publicity-shy winner was the self-taught Houston designer who took top honors for the Art category for a Macramé Plant Hanger. And the Polish duo Magdalena and Wojtek Zajdel finished first for the Pets category for their Wall Shelf Cat Bed.
