Just about a week left to enter this year's Designers of the Year Awards! There are nine categories in total—ranging from Interiors and Architecture to Industrial Design and Maker, which you can read all about right here.

For the category of Fashion & Jewellery Design, we’ve got a terrific panel of judges ready to assess your stellar work: learn more about them, below!

And get your entry in before 11:59 pm on Thursday, April 14!

Questions? Drop us a line anything at mail@westernliving.ca. We can’t wait to see what you’ve got!

Katie arcteryx

Katie Becker, Arc’teryx

Inspired by nature, motivated by innovation, and driven by creativity, Katie Becker joined Arc’teryx in 2020 as Chief Creative Officer, bringing over 25 years of design experience in the athletic and outdoor apparel industry.

Katie brings a strong background in progressive and technical designs, having created award-winning concepts for brands such as Merrell and Helly Hansen. Today, Katie is responsible for advanced apparel innovation, where she leads a global design team focused on pushing product into new territories.

Prior to joining Arc’teryx, Katie served as Senior Design Director for adidas, where she helped build and grow the brand's global design strategy for footwear, apparel, technical and lifestyle product. During her 12+ years at adidas, Katie successfully led high-performing teams, conceptualized and launched new divisions and programs, and set the creative direction for key international markets to support the steady growth of the business. Katie has also held design roles at Merrell, Helly Hansen and O’Neill, where her responsibilities included market research, technical design and innovation, sourcing, and product management.

Originally from Bellevue, Washington, Katie earned her Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design from Western Washington University before moving to British Columbia, Canada to start and co-own a skate and snowboard retail business and a technical snowboard apparel brand. She has also furthered her design knowledge and education, having attended Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy.

Outside of the office, Katie can often be found skiing, hiking, exploring backroads with her family, paddle boarding, traveling, toting kids to sporting events and trying to train a puppy.

Karen Konzuk

Karen Konzuk, Konzuk

Karen Konzuk aspires to create jewelry that is regarded as wearable architecture, and objects designed beautifully to last.

A graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Karen earned a BFA with a major in Jewelry Design and a minor in Art History and introduced the KONZUK line shortly after graduation.

Although Karen's formal education focused heavily on working with traditional precious metals, the designer has always shied away from mainstream expectations. Karen began to experiment with stainless steel shortly after completing her studies. While the unorthodox material inspired her, its use required that she retrain herself since standard jewelry making rarely calls for stainless steel. The properties of this metal call for an understanding of unusual tools and manufacturing methods.

Through trial and error, Karen persevered to create a line that was unlike anything her peers and mentors were creating. Her diligence resulted in a collection of pieces that reflected the designer's keen interest in industrial design and architecture. Through a studied use of clean lines and an unwavering commitment to a minimalist aesthetic, Karen has evolved KONZUK into an internationally renowned modern line of jewelry and design objects.

In 2019 the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation invited Karen Konzuk to develop an official collection of jewelry based on Wright's prolific works. Karen found inspiration from Wright's algorithmic illustrations for a series of unpublished 1927 Liberty Magazine covers.

Karen was also enlisted by the Guggenheim Museum, in New York, to produce an exclusive capsule collection inspired by the works of Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), coinciding with Klint's first major solo exhibition in the United States in 2018.

Treana Peake

Credit: Britney Gill Photography

Treana Peake, Obakki

Treana Peake's passion for travel and eye for design, combined with her lifelong dedication to making a difference in the world, inspired her to launch the lifestyle brand Obakki in 2005. The Obakki Foundation, its philanthropic counterpart, followed shortly thereafter. For decades she has travelled the globe, always on the lookout for opportunities to wander off the beaten path to connect with people and their stories.

From remote villages in Mexico to the world's largest refugee resettlement area in Uganda, Treana consistently forms lasting relationships with Obakki's artisan partners. She is committed to preserving, progressing and celebrating diverse craft cultures from around the world—while also creating sustainable change.

Recognized as an influential speaker in the field of social entrepreneurship, Treana has spoken about modern philanthropic solutions in front of the U.S. Congress and the United Nations, and has been featured as a TED Talk presenter speaking on the power of selfless giving. In addition, her hands-on work in the field has been recognized and endorsed by UNICEF and The Carter Center.

Under her leadership, the Obakki Foundation has helped over 3.5 million people, empowering individuals and communities who are committed to creating change.

And today more than ever, Treana's mission to champion the importance of purpose-led slow design is truly reflected through her daily collaboration with Obakki's global family of artisan partners.

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Andrea Molnar, Bacci's

Andrea Molnar was born and raised in Vancouver, and did her post-secondary studies in Paris, with the goal of becoming a costume designer. In the mid-1980s, she came to Vancouver and opened Bacci's with a group of designers that were changing the direction of fashion: Romeo Gigli, Franco Moschino, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dolce &Gabbana, Matsuda, Rifat Ozbek, Claude Montana and more.

In the mid to late ’90s, she starting buying from two of the Antwerp 6, Paul Smith, and more of the Japanese collections. And then it was Rick Owens, Alexander McQueen, Alber Elbaz for Lanvin, and Stella McCartney for Chloe. She opened Bacci's @ Home in 1995, creating a design destination on South Granville.

Under Molnar's leadership, Bacci's has cemented its reputation as the top destination in Vancouver for discovering the very best design brands from around the world.

Enter now! Deadline is April 14, 2022: we can’t wait to see what you’ve got!