The Ralph Saltzman Prize 2025

Co-Founder and President of Designtex, Saltzman's curiosity and collaborative spirit are evident in the legacy of innovation he leaves behind and in the company he founded 60 years ago. Designtex's development of sustainable textiles and the partnership that emerged between William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart won First Prize in the International Design Sense competition at the Design Museum in 2000.

Sarah is a Danish weaver and textile designer, graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven. In 2021, she launched Stem, an innovative zero-waste production brand, for woven garments. Her weaving, cutting and sewing system eliminates garment production waste and creates a visual aesthetic that tells a production story. With her experimental approach to zero-waste garments, Brunnhuber bridges craft and industry, aiming to disrupt the current cycle of overproduction and overconsumption. Sara's philosophy is: produce better, produce less – buy better, buy less. Sarah submitted textiles and garments that tell the story of her innovative weaving techniques, and also embody her mission to make the fashion and textile industry less wasteful, to foster a spirit of collaboration within the industry, to share and emphasise the production process, and to bridge craft and industry. stem.page

Ella is a materials designer, creating work that frequently crosses the realms of textiles, product, art and set design. Contextual research and material experiments are intersected with artisan techniques to direct Ella's design approach, becoming a tool to transform the raw into the refined. The design outcomes whether objects or experiences, narrate the craft process, material research and explored themes of historical, social and cultural movements. Before establishing the studio, Ella completed a design residency at the Design Museum. Ella’s submission is a set of stools entitled 'Transitions' produced in collaboration with Wassaman Ltd, a timber factory based in Accra, Ghana that specialises in indigenous sustainable practices. The collection was inspired by a ritual performed at a marriage ceremony by some Ewe clans, symbolising an invitation of the new bride into a new family. Yet, each stool explores a different transitional stage where women are the forebears of instilling wisdom: nurture, adolescence and spirituality. ellabulley.com

Lulu is a geo alchemist glass artist based between London and Oxford. She studied Art & Design Foundation Diploma at Central Saint Martins in 2011. From 2012 - 2015 she studied Photography at Falmouth University and later went back to Central Saint Martin’s in 2022 to study her MA in Material Futures. Lulu travels extensively working alongside glass chemists, glass studios and glass blowers around the UK and Europe, and with research-, commercial- and industry-based organisations to widen her creative research and collaborative work. Lulu’s submission is Thames Glass, a project inspired by the idea of creating geo-specific glass using local, abundant and waste materials from one location or region. Growing up by the River Thames in Oxfordshire, Lulu was drawn to work with materials sourced from the area, including river sands, wood ashes, and waste quagga mussel shells from Thames Water. This project embodies circular glass production by integrating 21st-century waste materials into glassmaking. luluharrisonstudio.com

Samy Rio is an industrial designer based in the South of France, with a practice that is based on the combination of crafts and industry address to local needs in order to build projects that maintain a close link with the territory where they take place. He tries to create, where possible, production ecosystems by connecting people, tools and resources in the service of issues specific to the locality. Rio has developed a wood glue from the resin of sea pine based on the tapping technique in order to produce wood-based panels (such as particle board, plywood, etc) for his furniture collections, which are all locally made. The local pine is then used to produce two ranges of wooden furniture. Wood from chestnut trees is steam bended into a range of simple and affordable furniture. samyrio.fr

Johanna graduated from the MA Contextual Design at the Design Academy in Eindhoven (2019), BA in Product Design at the Iceland University of the (2016) and set up her studio in 2020. Her practice encompasses conceptual design, developing products, exhibitions, video works, creative direction, often transcending the distinctions between different fields. Her work explores the process and the aesthetics of everyday-consumed products, commodity journeys along their supply chains, developing design methods. The investigations morph into designs developed using the tools of substitution, adaptation, and resiliency. Her submission is called Oase, a concept that proposes an intervention to improve the conditions of trees in urban spaces, inspired by an ancient low-tech method used for irrigation. It is a series of unglazed terracotta vessels that are filled with water and buried in the ground, near a tree, which can retain water directly through its roots, thanks to the porosity of the material. johannaseelemann.com

Designer Attua Aparicio was selected as the 2024 prize winner – nominated by Martino Gamper. Other nominees were: ASTRONAUTS (Danae Dasyra and Joe Bradford), Tabatha Pearce Chedier, Jacob Marks and Micaella Pedros.

Designer Marco Campardo was selected as the 2023 prize winner, nominated by Barber Osgerby. Other nominees were: Joseph Yanney Ewusie, Rio Kobayashi, Simón Ballen Botero and Timi Oyedeji.

Designer Mac Collins was selected as the inaugural prize winner in 2022, nominated by Industrial Facility. Other nominees were: Alexandra Fruhstorfer, Francisco Norris, Marion Pinaffo & Raphaël Pluvinage, and Sky Lucy Young.