Land Rover and BORN have announced the winners of the 2016 BORN AWARDS with the ceremony held in the prestigious ski resort of Courchevel in France. The luxury British automotive brand joined forces with BORN – a leading alternative financing platform for lifestyle businesses and creative entrepreneurs – to recognize and celebrate outstanding work within the creative industries.
The collaboration between the brands culminated in this year’s BORN AWARDS presented by Land Rover – with awards given to leaders in the following sectors: home & design, technology & innovation, sport & leisure, fashion, art and architecture.
Winners of this year’s awards included the Tag Heuer “Connected” watch, the BleepBleeps family of wearables to help parents, a chair inspired by dragonflies from Odo Fioravanti, a “love story” piece of video by artist Annina Roescheisen, the Visamara Supernikka model that won the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and a suave wooden bicycle by Keim.
Originally founded by Jean-Christophe Chopin, the CEO of BORN, the awards were this year presided over by Gerry McGovern, Design Director and Chief Creative Officer at Land Rover. Gerry also worked with his in-house team to design and produce a set of bespoke awards for the ceremony, which were created from triangles of milled aluminum with a metal ‘rock’ surface, reflecting the Range Rover production process. Copper highlights were added to suggest terrain and strength.
Gerry said: “We are incredibly excited to announce the winners of the BORN AWARDS. Land Rover is a brand driven by design and the Range Rover Evoque Convertible is a true reflection of this, coupling design leadership with engineering integrity. With creative governance at the heart of what we do, the BORN AWARDS are the perfect outlet for us to celebrate what is integral to Land Rover. Every nominee showed exceptional creativity and we were truly impressed by the outstanding caliber of design leaders in Courchevel.”
“BORN is a company dedicated to creative excellence. It’s a privilege to once again honor and celebrate the achievements of world creative leaders at the BORN AWARDS,” said Jean-Christophe Chopin, CEO of BORN.
“This has become the place where outstanding design is recognized and all of the nominees are to be congratulated for developing absolutely spectacular work. I also want to thank Gerry McGovern and Land Rover for their partnership as there is perhaps no greater company that continues to exhibit great design.”
The awards coincided with the first global media drives of the all-new Range Rover Evoque Convertible. Revealed in London last November, the Evoque Convertible is the world’s most capable all-season convertible. Ahead of its launch, the vehicle underwent extreme weather testing on varied terrains, including snow to test its capability and durability in a series of demanding tests. In Courchevel, the Evoque Convertible’s on- and off-road technologies were showcased as it was put through its paces on the slopes.
The luxurious ski resort also featured eleven spectacular animal sculptures, created by renowned French sculptor and BORN AWARDS 2016 jury member, Richard Orlinski. The exhibition included a bespoke sculpture created in Orlinski’s Parisian studio and featuring one of his signature wild ‘Kong’ sculptures positioned in the driving seat of a wire frame Range Rover Evoque Convertible, created by Land Rover.
The collaboration between Land Rover and BORN has seen the brands release a series of short films featuring exclusive interviews with creative heavyweights from the worlds of design, architecture, fashion, gastronomy and business. The series includes interviews with Italian culinary supremo Massimo Bottura and Serafina Sama, founder of London-based womenswear label Isa Arfen.
The BORN AWARDS 2016 winners:
1. Architecture Category:
WINNER: Argentinian Marcelo Joulia for his “Stade des Lumieres” in Lyon
Runner-Up: WilkinsonEyre for the Gas Holders development at Kings Cross
2.Art Category:
WINNER: German artist Annina Roescheisen for her latest video installations
Runner-Up: South Korean artists Boomon for show Naksan in NY of a beach under snow
3. Creative Revolution Category:
WINNER: Jean-Claude Biver for the Tag Heuer Connected in cooperation with Google and Intel
Runner-Up: Maximilian Busser for his mechanical spider clock
4. Fashion Category
WINNER: London/Tokyo based design studio N&R Folding’s, founded by Rodrigo Solorzano and Naoki Kawamoto for their futuristic bag “Distortion” with fashion house Issey Miyake – Link here
5. Home Design Category:
WINNER: Odo Fioravanti for his Dragon Fly Segis chair
Runner-Up: Yves Behar for his Tylko furniture collaboration
6.Social Impact Category:
WINNER: Yann Borgstedt for his foundation Womanity which works to protect women and girls from gender-based violence
7. Sport & Leisure Category:
WINNER: Cristiano De Rosa and Paolo Pininfarina for their bike collaboration
Runner-Up: Paule Guerin & Till Breitfuss for their sustainable bike brand Keim
8. Technology & Innovation Category:
WINNER: Entrepreneur Tom Evans for his collection of parental wearable devices Bleep Bleeps
Runner-Up: Paul Cocksedge for his smart speaker tool called the Vamp
9. Yachting Category:
WINNER: Alessandro Vismara for the Vismara 62 Mills racer which won the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup inSeptember
Runner-Up: Dickie Bannenberg for latest yatch design works
10. Special Crowdfunding Category:
WINNER: Thomas Drischel for his chic accessory brand Robert Kerr
Runner-Up: ZeTracker for their ski device to never lose your skis
11.Special Distinctive Creativity Category:
WINNER: David Jones (ex CEO Havas) for his disruptive and creative way to revolutionize advertising with his agency You & Mr. Jones
Runner-Up: Barbara Coignet for her agency on sustainable luxury