LVMH Prize Announces Top Eight Finalists
Delphine Arnault and Kanye West at the LVMH Prize cocktail reception in Paris. Photo: Saskia Lawaks
During Paris Fashion Week, we attended the LVMH Prize cocktail reception honoring the 26 designers (selected from over a thousand applicants) who had made it through the first round of the global competition. There was a celebratory mood in the air as Karl Lagerfeld palled around with Kanye West, Raf Simons walked around with Bernard Arnault, and an international coterie of editors got to speak with all of the nominees. Today it was announced that the ironclad jury, which consists of Marc Jacobs, Riccardo Tisci, Phoebe Philo, Nicolas Ghesquière, Jonathan Anderson, and LVMH VP Delphine Arnault, selected finalists to make it through to the next round. They include womenswear designers Arthur Arbesser, Sebastien Meyer and Arnauld Vaillant of Coperni, Faustine Steinmetz, Simon Porte Jacquemus of Jacquemus, Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida of Marques’ Almeida, and Demma Gvasali of Vetements. Menswear designer Craig Green and Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh, which produces both men’s and women’s lines, round out the top eight.
This is a pretty incredible lineup, and we’re curious to see who will take home the top prize in May. The winner will receive 300,000 euros and a yearlong mentorship to helpfully build out their nascent brand, while runners up will get 10,000 euros a piece. But more than that, this competition gives young designers an even bigger stage to showcase their work with the industry’s top all-stars which means they are all winners already.
