The LVMH (Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy) prize is a prize for young, outstanding and innovative fashion designers. The LVMH started in 2013 as a means to help young designers from all over the world get grants and recognition.
The winner of the LVMH prize is awarded with 300,000 euros and a year’s worth of mentorship from the LVMH group. The criteria given to apply for the prize states : Designers must be 40 years old or younger, and must have produced at least 2 collections of menswear, womenswear or genderless fashion.
So far, since the beginning of the LVMH prize, only one African designer has emerged as the prize winner. In the 2019 edition of the prize competition, Thebe Magugu, a South African designer became the first African ever, to win the LVMH prize.
He was shortlisted alongside Nigerian designer, Kenneth Ize, who ended up as semi finalist making him the second Nigerian to emerge as a semi finalist. Back in 2014, Adebayo Oke Lawal, the creative director for Orange culture became the first African male designer to be shortlisted as a semifinalist for the LVMH prize.
Now, another creative and innovative designer, Tokyo James becomes the third Nigerian to be shortlisted as a semi-finalist for the 2022 LVMH prize. This is his first time applying for the prize and he was selected alongside 20 other designers from 13 different countries as semi finalists. The LVMH group also revealed they received over 1900 entries for this year’s prize.
From the 4th till the 9th of March, the 20 shortlisted semi finalists will showcase their collection in a showroom event in Paris, where the international judging panel will crown a winner.
The representative, Delphine Arnault of the LVMH group stated
“The twenty semi-finalists are driven by an optimistic and innovative vision. They all place eco-responsibility at the heart of their creative approach with the use of recycled materials, upcycling, etc. They are also very keen on integrating a more ethical production system, while some place the spotlight on local and traditional know-how. The fluidity of womenswear and menswear is another key feature of this edition”.
Here are the list of Designers selected for the 2022 LVMH prize
AIREI by Drew Curry, United States, menswear
AMESH by Amesh Wijesekera, Sri Lanka, genderless collections
ASHLYN by Ashlynn Park, South Korea, womenswear
BLUEMARBLE by Anthony Alvarez, France, menswear
CHENPENG by Peng Chen, China, genderless collections
ERL by Eli Russell Linnetz, United States, womenswear, menswear and genderless collections
GOOMHEO by Goom Heo, South Korea, menswear and genderless collections
KNWLS by Charlotte Knowles, United Kingdom & Alexandre Arsenault, Canada, womenswear
MAXIMILIAN by Maximilian Davis, United Kingdom, womenswear and menswear
MERYLL ROGGE by Meryll Rogge, Belgium, womenswear and genderless collections
NICCOLO PASQUALETTI by Niccolò Pasqualetti, Italy, genderless collections
PALOMO SPAIN by Alejandro Gòmez Palomo, Spain, genderless collections
PAULA CANOVAS DEL VAS by Paula Canova del Vas, Spain, womenswear
ROISIN PIERCE by Róisín Pierce, Ireland, womenswear
RYUNOSUKEOKAZAKI by Ryunosuke Okazaki, Japan, genderless collections
S.S. DALEY by Steven Stokey Daley, United Kingdom, menswear
TOKYO JAMES by Iniye Tokyo James, Nigeria, menswear
WEINSANTO by Victor Brunstein Weinsanto, France, womenswear
WINNIE NEW YORK by Idris Balogun, United States, menswear
YUEQI QI by Yueqi Qi, China, genderless collections