PARIS — Botter, Lukhanyo Mdingi and Peter Do are among the seven finalists for the ANDAM Fashion Award 2022 grand prize, reflecting the international reach of the competition, which aims to attract talent from around the world to set up business in the French capital.
All three are former finalists for the LVMH Prize for Young Designers, with South Africa-based Mdingi, who designs menswear and womenswear, one of the joint second-place winners in the Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize last year.
Dutch menswear brand Botter is designed by Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh, who until recently worked as artistic directors for Nina Ricci, while womenswear designer Peter Do, who previously worked on Celine with Phoebe Philo, is based. in New York City.
Only one of the contenders for the top €300,000 ANDAM prize is based in Paris: Thomas Monet’s genderfluid brand Cool TM . ANDAM Grand Prize candidates can be of any nationality, but must own or create a French company during the same year they receive the scholarship.
Completing the list of finalists are Berlin-based womenswear brand Ottolinger, established by Swiss-born designers Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient; Copenhagen’s Heliot Emil, which was founded by brothers Victor and Julius Juul in 2016 as a menswear brand and has since expanded into womenswear, and London-based womenswear label Robert Wun, the subject of a recent exhibition at the Savannah College of Art and Design museum. in atlanta
For the first time this year, ANDAM will also award a special second place prize, with a cash prize of €100,000, to one of the finalists, reflecting the generosity of new and established sponsors and recognizing the strength of the talents of high caliber. awards have been attracting recently.
The three nominees for the Pierre Bergé Prize, which focuses on young French companies and is endowed with €100,000, are Benjamin Benmoyal, who makes clothes from dead fabrics and recycled materials such as VHS cassette tapes; Bluemarble Paris, a Paris-based menswear brand founded by multicultural designer Anthony Alvarez, and Boyarovskaya, created by designer Maria Boyarovskaya and fashion photographer Artem Kononenko.
For their part, the three contenders for the €50,000 Accessories Prize are 13 09 SR, the brand co-founded by former Carven designer Serge Ruffieux that launched last year with flat shoes and jeweled glasses; London-based Romanian designer Ancuta Sarca, whose creations combine sportswear and haute couture; and Paris-based jewelry designer Dolly Cohen, who has created grills for celebrities like Rihanna.
Nathalie Dufour, founder and CEO of ANDAM, noted that the award has always attracted a large number of international applicants, noting that the first winner in 1989 was Belgian designer Martin Margiela.
“I think it also shows that Paris is a capital that continues to attract a lot of talent,” she told WWD in a joint interview with Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s fashion president and president of Chanel SAS, who is returning this year for the second time. period as award mentor. “Participating in the ANDAM award opens many doors.”
Dufour pointed out that the main prize comes with several conditions: in addition to establishing a French subsidiary, brands must commit to show their collections in Paris, and a part of the prize money depends on the contracting of French manufacturers.
“It’s about promoting the ‘Made in France’ label and connecting companies with these brands, who dream of having access to the kind of high-level knowledge that positions them as luxury brands,” he said, adding that the rarefied skills on offer in France it also coincides with the brands’ efforts in favor of sustainable production.
Meanwhile, France-based finalists will have privileged access to the Institut Français de la Mode fashion school accelerator program and financial advice from the Institute for the Financing of Cinema and Cultural Industries, which supports cultural industries in France.
Bruno Pavlovsky
Courtesy of Chanel
Pavlovsky said the ANDAM prize, to be awarded at a ceremony on June 30, was key to polishing Paris’ reputation as the capital of fashion. “Our ambition is really to seek the best to increase the prestige of both the ANDAM prize and Paris and that necessarily leads us to be super international,” he said.
“It would be great to have seven French candidates. The reality today is that design is extremely broad, cosmopolitan and international. It is inspired by all cultures, from all continents, so it is important that the ANDAM award reflects that as well,” he added.
Both noted that this year’s finalists shared a trend towards timeless designs, in tune with their generation’s growing demand for ethical and sustainable production.
“There is a return to a certain classicism and to the idea of clothing construction. We are seeing less political commentary, less efforts to use clothing as a vector for slogans or ideas. Rather, the focus is on exploring more deeply the main function of the garment and the quality of the materials. In that sense, I found this selection quite mature,” said Dufour.
Pavlovsky, who previously mentored ANDAM 2015 winner Stéphane Ashpool of streetwear brand Pigalle Paris, said he would place even more emphasis on environmental concerns this time.
“These are brands that, if they adopt good habits from the beginning, can produce sustainably. It is difficult for established brands to change and evolve. As part of my tutorial, I’ll be discussing with the winners how to start doing this from where they currently are. I think it’s key to the fashion of tomorrow,” she said.
The award mentorship has also been adapted to take into account today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, with the arrival of Instagram and Mytheresa.com as sponsors, offering this year’s winners the opportunity to tap into a pool of experts in digital technology to improve their communication and distribution strategies.
Pavlovsky said the mentoring process should allow brands to avoid some of the mistakes made by their more established peers.
“So much is happening today in the world of fashion and luxury, so many sectors are experiencing disruption, from retail to manufacturing; Actually, there are many areas where we can help, even if it’s just by bringing potential difficulties to your attention. ” he said.
“Today more than ever, our job as mentors is to help them achieve what they want, but also to alert them and save them time on problems that, unfortunately, we have already struggled with in the past,” added Pavlovsky.
Created in 1989 by Dufour with the support of the French Ministry of Culture and DEFI, a body that promotes the development of the French fashion industry, and with the late Pierre Bergé as president, ANDAM has been a springboard for designers who would go on to achieve the international recognition.
Previous winners include Viktor & Rolf, Christophe Lemaire, Jeremy Scott and Marine Serre.
ANDAM, the French acronym for the National Association for the Development of Fashion Arts, is also supported by major corporate sponsors, now including Balenciaga, Chanel, Chloé, Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent, Galeries Lafayette, Google , Hermès, Instagram, Kering, Lacoste, Longchamp, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, L’Oréal Paris, MyTheresa, OTB, Premiere Classe, Saint Laurent, Swarovski and Tomorrow.
The executives of most of these firms are permanent members of the jury.
Many of this year’s guest jury members hail from Chanel’s orbit. They include model and music producer Caroline de Maigret; twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz of the musical duo Ibeyi; choreographer Blanca Li; rapper Abd al Malik; the model, DJ and singer Soo Joo Park, and Miren Arzalluz, director of the Palais Galliera fashion museum.
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Source: wwd.com