LVMH creates prize for young designers

By

Florent Gilles

Published
Nov 24, 2013

LVMH has created its own prize for young designers. A website for the competition went online November 21 for receiving applications from international designers under the age of 40 who have already created two men's or women's collections.

"Our goal is to promote vitality and creativity in the fashion world on an international scale. As the leader in our industry, it’s our responsibility to find talent, to help talent grow and to help designers structure their company," said Delphine Arnault.

Such support comes with 300,000 euros in award money, plus personalized mentoring for one year. The new award is higher than the ANDAM Fashion Award (250,000 euros) and on par with the now defunct prize from Spanish company Mango, which recently decided to stop its competition.

The jury of the inaugural edition consists of eight stars from the Group's brands: Nicolas Ghesquière (Louis Vuitton), Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld (Fendi), Humberto Leon and Carol Lim (Kenzo), Phoebe Philo (Celine), Raf Simons (Dior) and Riccardo Tisci (Givenchy).

They will be assisted by Delphine Arnault, executive vice president of Louis Vuitton, Jean-Paul Claverie, advisor to Bernard Arnault and head of corporate philanthropy at LVMH and Pierre-Yves Roussel, CEO of LVMH Fashion Group (the division comprising Celine, Givenchy, Kenzo, Loewe, Marc Jacobs, Pucci and Rossimoda).

The LVMH Prize will also award three graduates of a fashion school with grants of 10,000 euros and a one-year contract in the design studio of one of the group's fashion houses.

Registration began November 21 and will run until February 2, 2014 on the LVMH Prize website. The results will be announced in May 2014.