(Worldwide) – The winners of the inaugural Silhouette Awards were announced in an online ceremony last week.

The awards, curated by Archifos and Parrot PR & Marketing, aim to shine a light on emerging talent within the lighting industry, honouring young designers who have the vision and ambition to steer and lead the lighting industry in the coming years.

A judging panel of 20 influential senior lighting designers selected the 20 winning entrants – each has been paired with a mentor from the panel of judges.

Entries were received from candidates around the world, spanning 25 countries, all demonstrating varying levels of experience. With an unexpected percentage of female entrants (79%), the judging panel, who reviewed the entries independently, were all aligned with the final selection showcasing the very best of the industry’s talent with an outstanding all-female winners line-up.

Successful candidates will now be individually supported by one of the programme’s 20 mentors for the next six months and beyond as they progress in their careers. With the support of the Silhouette Awards’ array of sponsors and supporters, the winners have been rewarded with the opportunity to enhance their skillset, pursue their career ambitions and add value to the creativity of the industry, raising the bar for talent around the world.

The 2022 winners and their mentor partnerships are:

• Valeriya Gorelova (Mentor: Anna Sbokou)
• Rosa Alvarez de Arcaya (Mentor: Beata Denton)
• Francesca Feltrin (Mentor: Dario Nunez Salazar)
• Dipali Shirsat (Mentor: David Gilbey)
• Laura Arroyo Rocha (Mentor: Fernando Mazzetti)
• Alessandra de Martino (Mentor: Jonathan Rush)
• Swathi Madhi (Mentor: Lara Elbaz)
• Elsa Sawma (Mentor: Linus Lopez)
• Momena Saleem (Mentor: Marci Song)
• Frankie Boyle (Mentor: Marcus Steffen)
• Qistina Ahmad Ali (Mentor: Martin Klaasen)
• Beatrice Bertolini (Mentor: Melissa Mak)
• Elena Volpi (Mentor: Michael Grubb)
• Africa Sabé Dausà (Mentor: Monica Luz Lobo)
• Iris Molendijk (Mentor: Rouzana Kopti)
• Janice Lu (Mentor: Ruth Kelly Waskett)
• Gabi Korac (Mentor: Sam Koerbel)
• Doreen Colling (Mentor: Star Davis)
• Rebecca Mintz (Mentor: Suzan Tillotson)
• Cristina Gil Venegas (Mentor: Victor Palacio)

Eve Gaut, Co-Founder, Parrot PR & Marketing commented: “The Silhouette Awards was set up to recognise the future leaders of the lighting industry and showcase the very best of the best. The calibre of entries has far surpassed our expectations, and we were so proud to receive submissions from all over the world, clearly demonstrating the inclusivity of the industry and the appetite for this type of initiative.

“We are immensely grateful to all supporters, sponsors and mentors who have not only given up their time on the judging panel, but also committed to a further six months guiding these young professionals and helping them to advance on their individual career paths.”

Katia Kolovea, Co-Founder, Archifos, added: “From the initial conception of the Silhouette Awards, it was essential for both Parrot and Archifos to not only recognise the talent of the industry’s rising stars, but to offer guidance and support to the winners on their future careers.

“We were surprised to realise that, despite the judging panel individually reviewing each entry, all 20 winners of the first Silhouette Awards are female. We are very much looking forward to seeing what’s in store for the next edition of this awards programme, and I would personally like to thank everyone that has been involved so far in helping us to achieve our longstanding ambition to showcase the talent of the future.

The journey is really only just beginning as we look forward and support these twenty new mentor-mentee relationships as they flourish and achieve great things together.” 

www.silhouetteawards.com