Croatian Tanja Bradaric wins Austria’s Kontakt. Fashion Award
The Kontakt. Fashion award, sponsored by Austria’s Erste Bank, yearly recognizes an emerging fashion talent from Central & Eastern Europe. With an editor from this magazine on the jury, yeah, it was decided to grant the prize to Tanja, whose collections showed strong promise and a strong, yet subtle aesthetic. She will be awarded 4.000 euros and will present her collection at the Austrian Fashion Awards night during the 9 Festival for Fashion & Photography (www.9festival.at), which runs from end May to early June.
Hailing from Split/Croatia, Tanja Bradaric first studied fashion at the University of the Arts in Split, then at the University of Textile Technology in Zagreb before graduating from the Fashion Department at the University of Applied Arts Vienna under Raf Simons and Veronique Branquinho. She has won several awards including the L’Oreal Award and the INDIE Magazine Award for the best collection 2008. She is currently doing an internship at Balenciaga, Paris. 
Tanja Bradaric tries to capture the timelessness of nature with essential viewpoints. Her work aims to trigger an emotional response in the wearer and observer. She pays particular attention to the texture and volume of the material. Her aesthetic moves within the sharp contrast between human softness and the hardness of futuristic robotics.