News by Maddy Coffey
Luxury goods company LVMH have announced the eight finalists for its LVMH Prize for Young Designers for 2019 in Paris. The brand has been holding this annual competition for six years to celebrate and bring recognition to young designers in the luxury sphere. This year LVMH received a record 1,700 applications.
The eight young designers are the most diverse group of finalists the competition has ever seen, including young talents representing Israel, Nigeria, and South Africa.
“Each new edition brings its lot of firsts,” said Delphine Arnault, the executive vice president of Louis Vuitton and the founder of the Prize. “It goes to show the reach of the Prize on the one hand, and on the other, the reach of fashion, its ability to touch more and more people, thanks in part to the Internet. It is truly a unifying dynamic.”
Despite offering diversity, there is one unifying factor among the finalists, and that is sustainability. “Most of [the finalists] have integrated upcycling in their sourcing strategy,” Arnault explains. “First and foremost, we appraise the creativity of the candidates. Naturally, if it is combined with an ethical and environmental awareness at the service of creation, then so much the better.”
The winner of the LVMH Prize will be announced in June, after the selected jury meets with the finalists at The Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. It will be the first panel that Karl Lagerfeld, who died last month, will not be part of. New to the judging committee is Kris Van Assche. Arnault commended the choice, “I am certain that his tremendous experience in menswear will contribute something novel to our jury.”
