Fiona Diamond Champions the Next Generation of Yacht Designers
Press · Boat International, The USA Issue · August 2019
Fiona Diamond Champions the Next Generation of Yacht Designers
As the industry’s top designers gathered at Boat International’s World Superyacht Awards, the magazine asked each of them to name the emerging talent they had their eye on. Fiona Diamond’s choice was Irene Focarile, then a student at Solent University.
2019 August New GenBoat International, August 2019. The USA Issue.Finding Talent Early
Fiona has judged Boat International’s Young Designer of the Year award, run in association with Oceanco, for several years, and makes a habit of visiting universities to meet the next wave of designers before they have settled into any one studio’s house style. It was on one of these visits that she came across Irene’s work at Solent University. What struck her, she told the magazine, was how mature and considered it already was, elegant and self-assured in a way she rarely sees at that age.
Irene Focarile, then studying at Solent University, and Fiona Diamond of Seymour Diamond.
“With the real talents, you’ve got to get in early.”
Fiona Diamond, Seymour Diamond
For her part, Irene said she wanted her yachts to be beautiful as well as functional, and admitted it would feel strange to leave university, where she had overseen every element of a design herself, for a studio where she would be learning from others instead. If Fiona ever offered her a job, she added, she would take it in a heartbeat.
It’s a small exchange, but it says a lot about how Fiona works: spotting ability early, backing it publicly, and staying close enough to watch where it goes.
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