Category: Our news / Calls for applications
The Signature Foundation joins forces with the Savoir-faire en transmission awards
Under the aegis of the Fonds pour les Ateliers de Paris, the Signature Foundation has joined forces with the Prix Savoir-faire en transmission to support the preservation and promotion of fine crafts through a new award dedicated to the fashion, performing arts and instrument-making sectors.
Since its creation in 2019 by Natalia Logvinova Smalto, in homage to the couturier Francesco Smalto, the Signature Foundation has been steadfastly committed to artistic creation and the transmission of knowledge. Recognized as a charitable organization, it supports large-scale cultural projects in France and abroad, with a clear commitment to promoting excellence in all its forms.
As a partner of numerous artistic institutions - including the Petit Palais, the Opéra national de Paris and the Philharmonie de Paris - the Foundation's commitment is also reflected in several annual awards that highlight singular careers, emerging talents and rare gestures.
The Signature Foundation joins forces with the Savoir-faire en transmission awards
This year, through the Fonds pour les Ateliers de Paris, the Signature Foundation is supporting the Prix Savoir-faire en transmission, a scheme initiated by the City of Paris to preserve the city's artistic crafts. Thanks to this partnership, a new prize has been created, dedicated to the fashion, performing arts and instrument-making trades, three sectors at the heart of the Foundation's concerns.
This prize is aimed in particular at trades directly linked to couture workshops, in the spirit dear to Madame Smalto of supporting the transmission of her late husband's trade. It covers tailors, dressmakers, loose-fitting specialists, pattern makers, embroiderers, feather workers, formers, hat makers, styling consultants, textile ennoblers, lace makers, weavers and costume makers - all precious skills where manual excellence is combined with creativity.
This support reflects a clear desire to promote exceptional expertise and support up-and-coming professionals in disciplines where transmission plays a fundamental role.
The " Prix Savoir-faire en transmission" is a professional integration scheme that enables young professionals to perfect their training within a crafts company. Endowed with €12,000 each, these prizes offer a trainee the opportunity to complete a year's full-time training in the workshop of an art craftsman. Designed for students, with or without diplomas, and for adults undergoing retraining, they offer significant professional experience and the chance to perfect their skills within a company.
The call for entries is open until Sunday, November 2, 2025.
