Delphine Arnault with LVMH Prize jurors at the 2014 winners announcement.
Photo: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff / Getty
The semifinalists for the second annual LVMH Prize have been announced—the complete list of designers appears below. From more than 1,000 applicants, 26 were selected to move one step closer toward the 300,000 euro booty, and the opportunity to work for a year under the mentorship of LVMH professionals.
Last year there were actually three winners. Will that happen again? “I don’t know,” Delphine Arnault tells Style.com. “It’s going to be the jurors who decide. Last year they were so impressed by the level of the people who were in the final selections.”
Arnault says this year’s crop of designers is more diverse. “In the 26 semifinalists, we have more menswear designers than last year,” Arnault says. “And also more streetwear designers, and more Asian designers.” There are three labels that applied last year—Craig Green, Marques’Almeida, and Jacquemus. “We know that they have become even more mature in their vision and their style, and we thought it was interesting to have them again in the selection.”
So what’s in store for these semifinalists? We asked a few to find out what they hope will come.
“We have been working over the past few months on a very unique shopping experience, which I envision being a big part of my label,” Faustine Steinmetz tells Style.com. “I would also love to be in a position to grow my team, as I feel that for this label to be successful it will be about having the right people around me.”
For menswear designer Devon Halfnight Leflufy, it’s all about holistic growth: “I would focus building all aspects of my business together,” he says. “I want the foundation of my brand to be sustainable, and balance is an essential part of that.”
Virgil Abloh sees potential for expansion beyond just clothes. “Not only is Off-White my men’s and women’s range, but as well [it’s a] furniture line, art installations, and publications, all under the same name,” Abloh tells Style.com. “To me ‘fashion’ is not only garments but it is a mood or particular lifestyle. With this experience of the LVMH Prize, I hope to further organize my vision and showcase my point of view on culture.”
Demna Gvasalia of Vetements sees menswear on the horizon—“enabling a more perfected production and sales cycle, manufacturing our products with more skilled and specialized ateliers, and thinking about a menswear line” are on his agenda.
“They’re very courageous,” Arnault says of the semifinalists. “They are extremely creative and they have a vision, but they’re also entrepreneurs. It’s a very brave thing to do, to create. I think being a young designer today is not easy, but they’re all extremely passionate, and it’s something that is almost like a need, a need for creation. I’m very impressed by them.”
The finalists will be chosen next month during Paris fashion week, and the winner will be announced in June. Here, the complete list of 26 semifinalists.
Devon Halfnight Leflufy
Agi & Sam, designers Agi Mdumulla and Sam Cotton
Andrea Jiapei Li, designer Jiapei Li
Anton Belinskiy
Arthur Arbesser
Astrid Andersen
Baja East, designers Scott Studenberg and John Targon
Coperni, designers Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant
Craig Green
Faustine Steinmetz
Huishan Zhang
Jacquemus, designer Simon Porte Jacquemus
Jourden, designers Anais Mak and Benny Woo
Koche, designer Christelle Kocher
Marques’Almeida, designers Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida
Nabil Nayal, designer Nabiel El-Nayal
Nasir Mazhar
Off-White, designer Virgil Abloh
Orley, designers Alex Orley, Matthew Orley, Samantha Orley
Ryan Lo
Ryan Roche
Sankuanz, designer Shangguan Zhe
Vetements, designer Demna Gvasalia
WrittenAfterwards, designer Yoshikazu Yamagata
Xiao Li
XimonLee, designer Ximon Lee
—Noah Johnson, Style.com
