For its seventh edition, The International Prize Théophile Legrand Innovation Textile is now under the guidance of the Fondation de France and is looking for applications.

Candidates can now come from a research laboratory, a textile engineer school or laboratory of a textile company. To be considered, the project should be submitted by February and should not be commercialized.

Created in 2009 in Fourmies, France, by Dominique and Christian Cambier, founders of the Théophile Legrand Foundation, the International Théophile Legrand Textile Innovation Award has now been under the authority of the Union of textiles industries since 2014, trade union representing the diversity of French textile regions and branches, working closely with the Fondation de France.

Two Textile Innovation Awards in 2016

The Théophile Legrand Innovation Award Textile at the service of industry will be presented on 17 March 2016 at the Conference Centre “Capital 8” in Paris. The Théophile Legrand Textile Innovation Award in the human service will be presented on 19 March 2016 at the Place Maria Blondeau in Fourmies.

Both prizes will be awarded to researchers, PhD students, Master students and engineering students under alternate work and study contract able to invent the textiles of tomorrow, by the original creation of a fibre, a fabric or new ways of innovative textile industrial production. The aim is to promote the textile innovation, research, emulation and imagination highlighting the technical or industrial design.

The inventors of new textile fibres or new textile production ways must demonstrate creativity, originality and innovation in the design of their project. Transferability to the industrial process is mandatory. The innovation must be made feasible and reproducible within reasonably profitable conditions. Its functionality and usefulness must be recognizable or easily identifiable.

Participants

With candidates from all over the world, including North America, Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Pacific, the Théophile Legrand prize has become in five years the largest award in the world, according to organisers.

Since its setting up in 2009, 84 candidates have applied for this award. From 26 different nations, these 84 candidates represent 26 largest universities, engineering textiles schools or textile research laboratories in Europe, Asia and North America.

International reference

In six years, this award has become a reference for major international textile engineer schools and professionals from the textile industry. Resulting in concrete products, obtaining this award is an important international recognition on the resume of a selected candidate and a winner. Several of them have then entered into pre-industrialization phases or marketing of their inventions by subcontractors in the automotive and aerospace or large textile industries.

Other innovations of the Théophile Legrand prize have been used in creations designed by international designers. These avant-garde concepts were presented at the Futurotextiles exhibition in Paris or on the occasion of fashion shows at Louvre in Paris, in Salvador de Bahia in Brazil, in Cali, Colombia, in Halifax, Canada, or in Algiers, Algeria.

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