Designers & Agents Creative Exchange An International Artist Program

Two times a year, the initiative will select a different American artist to travel to the D&A Lab show in Japan; it will also select two Japanese artists during the course of the year, one to travel to the New York show and a second to the Los Angeles Show. D&A is renowned for nurturing and discovering new fashion talent. Creative Exchange will expand its outreach to the art world.

The artists will be selected by a panel of judges that will include the founding partners of D&A, Barbara Kramer and Ed Mandelbaum, experts from the art world and fashion luminaries.

Participants will be required to submit their entries through the D&A website. They will be solicited through art schools and press announcements. Each winner will receive an expense paid trip with D&A to the capitol across the world plus be awarded $1,000. Enriching the contemporaneous sentiment of the D&A shows, the visiting artists-in-residence will be given a prime location in the show from which to create and exhibit their artwork.

The Creative Exchange program was started in 2004. That year, Saori Kanda, a Japanese artist presented live at the D&A Lab show in Tokyo and subsequently was brought to New York by D&A to exhibit at their spring show. Her colorful works that marry traditional Japanese tattoo art with graceful beauty, resonating with a bohemian, youthful spirit received an overwhelmingly positive response. This led to Tokyo artist, Teppei Nakano, showing at the new your fall 2005 event after presenting with D&A in Japan. His large-scale signature whimsical watercolor and acrylic paintings on canvas and paper were very well-received by exhibitors, buyers and other bidding art collectors. To apply for the Designers & Agents Creative Exchange Program, please visit;
www.designersandagents.com .

Founded by the team of Barbara Kramer and Ed Mandelbaum, Designers & Agents overwhelming success in the Los Angeles market led to its Tokyo show in 2002. Popular demand from within the fashion industry resulted in the inevitable New York show. Participating designers bring a fresh perspective to the industry season after season. It’s an event that encourages fashion diversity, creativity and-out-of-the-box-thinking.