Anna Hernandez/Luna Textiles Award 2026

Competition Brief

The Anna Hernandez/Luna Textiles Award 2026 serves as an annual recognition program which the IIDA Foundation administers. The award recognizes a woman who has founded a commercial interior design or product design company and who creates substantial value for her field. The award recognizes entrepreneurial success while it establishes funding for future industry advancements.

Intent

The award recognizes women entrepreneurs who demonstrate leadership and creativity and make an impact through their work in commercial interior design and product design. The program showcases professional achievements through its primary focus on professional development which helps designers build their reputations.

Purpose

The program offers financial assistance and public recognition to design companies that women run and which exist in their initial stages of business development. The IIDA Foundation uses this award to empower various communities and foster the development of upcoming leaders in the interior design field.

Requirements

To qualify for this program, applicants must be female business owners who operate design companies that focus on commercial interior design or product design. The business must have existed for at least one year but not more than seven years as of January 1, 2026. The application process requires electronic submission of all materials which must include written statements and a video component and two letters of recommendation.

Jury

The IIDA Foundation Board of Trustees together with IIDA design and industry experts choose the award winner. The panel evaluates all eligible entries and selects one individual who meets all requirements based on the submitted documentation and established guidelines. The selection process occurs through committee evaluation instead of using a public jury system which identifies specific participants.

Fees

Rewards

Dates

✦ ArchUp Competition Review

The IIDA Foundation oversees the award which serves as a professional recognition program instead of a design competition. The organizer information remains clear while the evaluation process depends on trustees and industry professionals who conduct committee-based reviews without naming jurors, which prevents outside parties from assessing the jury’s expertise. The award exists to advance women’s careers through promotional activities which help women-owned businesses that operate at their initial development stage. The cash award carries a small value which matches the requirements that applicants need to fulfill. Participants gain primary advantage from their professional visibility which brings them recognition while adding value to their portfolios in comparison to their project work and design research activities.

Conclusion

The Anna Hernandez/Luna Textiles Award 2026 provides financial assistance to women-owned design firms that operate at their initial business development stage. Its eligibility criteria focus on firms between one and seven years old, which aims to balance experience with emerging leadership but also excludes more established practices. The award does not require a fee, making it accessible, yet the selection process depends on committee review because judges use an unshared evaluation system, which makes it difficult to understand, how they assess applicants. This award focuses on professional development because it differs from design competitions which require participants to create projects based on their ideas. The study shows that professional achievements bring more recognition value than specific design results, which makes it similar to how the industry awards professionals, instead of functioning as a standard design competition. For broader context on how awards and recognitions function within architectural and design cultures, see Adaptive Reuse Architecture Design Competition, the 2nd International Architecture Drawing Competition, and Architectural Competition Transparency.

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