As part of the seventh edition of Paris Design Week, the opening of the Now! Le Off – Rado Star Prize call for projects offers budding young international designers the opportunity to exhibit their creations at Now! Le Off, from 9-13 September 2017. At this end of this springboard event, the Rado Star Prize France 2017, in partnership with Swiss watch brand RADO, will be awarded to two designers. So get designing!

From 8-16 September 2017, Paris Design Week (PDW) will take centre stage once again and showcase international design in Paris, presenting a festival of creative events and cult get-togethers. For the 5th year running, the event is joining forces with Swiss watchmaker RADO to organise the Rado Star Prize France 2017. This prize will be awarded to two winners selected from the designers showing work at Now ! le off, one of Paris Design Week’s highlights, provided that the work in question has not yet been commercialised.

As usual, this pioneering event will be setting up shop at the Docks-Cité de la Mode et du Design, where it will present prototypes and previously unseen collections by around one hundred ‘new design talents’ from all over the globe, both young designers and design companies. The most creative and innovative projects will be unveiled at the official ceremony on Saturday September 9th. In parallel, thanks to the partnership between RADO and Paris Design Week, these ‘new design talents’ will be automatically entered for the Rado Star Prize France 2017, which rewards two participants. The winner of the Rado Star Prize – Prix du Jury will be designated by a jury of professionals, including Philippe Nigro, president of the jury and Intramuros magazine founder Chantal Hamaide, and will receive a cheque for 5,000 euros as well as a RADO watch. The winner of the Rado Star Prize – Prix du public will be selected by visitors voting online and will also receive one of the famous Swiss brand’s watches.

This prestigious prize definitely opens doors in the profession, to which Léa Baert, who won the Rado Star Prize 2016 – Prix du Public, can bear witness: “Now ! le off is the perfect opportunity to present a first collection. It is seen as an extension of the MAISON&OBJET trade show, which means that it draws a lot of visitors, including numerous professionals. After the show, I was contacted to exhibit a piece at ‘Wild Things’, an exhibition curated by Li Edelkoort and Philip Fimanno during the Biennale Interieur in Kortrijk, Belgium in October 2016. Today, my Panam Panama table lamp and wall light, which won the Rado Star Prize 2016 – Prix du Public, are going to be sold at Bon Marché Rive Gauche for spring/summer 2017.” In order to strengthen the ties between RADO and Paris Design Week, MAISON&OBJET will be offering the winners an added bonus: the chance to exhibit their work at the September 2018 trade show.

To meet the selection criteria, entrants must exhibit at Now! Le Off work that hasn’t yet been commercialised (a study, finished piece, prototype, mock-up or pre-production model). The call for projects closes on June 9th 2017. Application forms can be downloaded from www.parisdesignweek.fr. For more information, click on www.radostarprize.fr.

About RADO:
Innovative design and high-tech scratch resistant materials are the essence of the Rado brand: its design concepts find inspiration in the intrinsic characteristics of the materials it uses. For Rado, design is intimately linked to more intangible values and the brand is committed to an ongoing quest for groundbreaking ideas. Its philosophy of constantly raising the bar and turning inspiration into tangible realities has been rewarded by numerous international design awards.