JA New York Announces Mort Abelson New Designer of The Year Award

(PRESS RELEASE) NEW YORK — The excitement was palpable throughout the Jacob Javits Center as the eight designers from the historic New Designer Gallery made their New York City fine jewelry trade show debut. Aimee Petkus, Julie Lamb, Linda Hoj, M.HISAE, Olivia B., Original Eve, Ravit Kaplan and S. Tree each carry collections with signature aesthetics that excited the judges and made for a difficult deliberation. Despite the tough competition, Linda Hoj was declared the 2019 Mort Abelson New Designer of the Year. Hoj’s collection blends modern artistry with ancient techniques and exemplifies the spirit of the New Designer Gallery, as well as the forward-thinking vision of this section’s founder, Mort Abelson.

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In introducing this year’s results, JA New York Group Show Director Drew Lawsky noted, “42 years ago, the visionary Mort Abelson introduced the New Designer Gallery to the JA Shows. By bringing these artists to commercial trade shows, Mort significantly altered the entire fabric of our industry. Many of the designers who exhibited in those first New Designer Galleries went on to become world-renowned brands, and we’re confident that this tradition will continue with this current generation of artists.”

Liz Kantner, who curates the New Designer Gallery section of the show, introduced designer Theresa Kaz, the presenter of this year’s award.

“Theresa Kaz first debuted her collection in the New Designer Gallery one year ago,” Kantner said. “She’s presenting the Mort Abelson award because she is an incredible example of what this platform can do for emerging designers. In the past 12 months, Theresa has grown her business and opened new retail accounts. It all started here and we are thrilled to have her as an advocate and shining example of what Mort and Cindy Edelstein hoped for the New Designer Gallery.”

Kaz then went on to introduce this year’s Mort Abelson New Designer of the Year Award recipient.

Hoj said, “This is amazing! This is beyond amazing! Thank you all for everything. You’ve all been so supportive and I appreciate you so much!”

For more information about the New Designer Gallery or the Mort Abelson Award, contact Michelle Orman at (646) 302-5521 or via email at Michelle@lastwordcomm.com.