To receive the Vogue Business newsletter, sign up here.
Aaron Esh, Julie Pelipas, Burc Akyol, Rachel Scott, Raul Lopez, Luca Magliano, Paolina Russo, Veronica Leoni and Satoshi Kuwata are all this year’s finalists for the 10th annual LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers, the company announced Friday.
Whittled down from a shortlist of 22 designers, the finalists’ backgrounds span various international regions including the US, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe. Among them, Luar by Raul Lopez closed New York Fashion Week in February; Ukraine-based Julie Pelipas, upcycles deadstock for her brand Bettter; Satoshi Kuwata’s Setchu is a genderless brand based out of Japan; Brooklyn-based womenswear designer Rachel Scott, founder of Diotima, uses Caribbean artisanal techniques such as crochet; and Magliano by Italy’s Luca Magliano is inspired by LGBTQ+ culture and Bologna’s clubbing scene in the 1980s. The designers presented their collections at a showroom in the LVMH headquarters during Paris Fashion Week earlier this month, and the finalists were chosen by the LVMH Prize Committee of Experts, including stylist and consultant Emmanuelle Alt, British Vogue’s Edward Enninful and Ssense co-founder and CEO Rami Atallah, as well as the general public., as well as the general public.
The finalists will present their designs to a jury on 7 June at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, where winners will be named for the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers and the Karl Lagerfeld Prize, separately. The judging panel is made up of leading industry figures including Jonathan Anderson, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Nicolas Ghesquière, Marc Jacobs, Kim Jones, Nigo, Stella McCartney and Silvia Venturini Fendi, as well as Delphine Arnault, Jean-Paul Claverie and Sidney Toledano.
The winner of the LVMH Prize will receive a €300,000 grant and a year of tailored mentorship from the LVMH teams. And the winner of the Karl Lagerfeld Prize receives a €150,000 grant alongside a year-long mentorship from the LVMH teams.
The LVMH Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in fashion, has helped jumpstart some of fashion’s buzziest designers, including KidSuper and Lukhanyo Mdingi and Rui (all 2021 Karl Lagerfeld Prize winners), Jacquemus (2015 special prize winner), Grace Wales Bonner (2016 winner) and Marine Serre (2017 winner). Last year, 25-year-old London-based menswear designer Steven Stokey-Daley won the Prize.
“The semi-final of the tenth edition of the Prize has highlighted a great maturity in the approach and work of the designers,” Delphine Arnault, founder of the LVMH Prize and CEO of Dior, said in a statement. “Cultural diversity, celebration of traditional crafts and creative audacity define this selection. Naturally, the finalists are fully engaged in dealing with environmental issues and play with the boundaries between menswear and womenswear. Their expertise, their creativity, their uniqueness and their commitment have truly impressed me.”
Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.
More from this author:
Future of Trussardi in question as GmbH creative directors depart
Jeremy Scott exits Moschino after 10 years
Sample sales are trending on TikTok. Is it a brand opportunity?