Announced: 2021 Embroidery Prize Mentors and Judges

The world's biggest embroidery competition has seen record number of entrants since the global lockdown. This March, Hand & Lock, the founders of the Prize, are announcing an exciting line-up of mentors and judges to help discover and nurture the next generation of top embroiderers.

During these extraordinary times many people have turned to craft to help deal with the anxieties produced by the pandemic. London embroidery house, Hand & Lock have seen record interest in their annual embroidery competition. The Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery, was first founded back in 2000 with a live prize-giving held each November. Last year however, Hand & Lock adapted to the UK restrictions and created the first ever Virtual Prize Week to celebrate the embroidery creations and exceptional talent that bubbled to the surface through a trying year. Following the success of Virtual Prize Week, the 2021 competition is picking up pace, with registrations higher than ever.

Each March Hand & Lock announce the new mentors and judges who will preside over the competition. 2021 promises to offer true industry experts from all corners of the creative industries.

The Hand & Lock Embroidery Mentorship Programme was introduced in 2013 to provide the selected finalists an opportunity to work closely with an industry specialist and develop their designs. Each finalist has a few weeks to perfect their design with expert help in the run up to the final stage of the Prize: the live judging at the Prize-giving. In previous years many finalists have gone on to forge close personal and professional relationships with their mentors; receiving career guidance as well as help and support through the Prize process. This year’s mentors have an invaluable wealth of expert, industry knowledge and experience across fashion, textiles, art and design.

Our 2020 judging panel is comprises educators, practitioners and specialists from every sphere of the embroidery universe. They consider the work in progress at the first stage to determine our finalists, and again at the live prize-giving where they judge the completed embroideries. At the live final our judges also have the opportunity to review supporting research materials to form a comprehensive understanding. Judges might also talk to finalists about their submissions to interrogate techniques, influences and gain a clear understanding of how they arrived at their exhibited work. On the night of the prize-giving, the judges vote is combined with the public vote to determine our final winners.