Earlier today, Feb. 13, luxury conglomerate LVMH shared the list of 20 designers who had been named semifinalists for the annual LVMH Prize. They were chosen from over 2,300 applicants and hail from 15 countries. If they win at the prize ceremony in March, they'll earn unfettered access to mentorship from leading designers within the LVMH stable—along with the sort of funding that can make or break a small fashion brand.
The list includes names anyone training a close eye on the fashion month calendar's debut schedule will recognize: like Niklas Skovgaard, whose '80s-inspired dresses have been a fixture at Copenhagen Fashion Week in recent seasons, and All-In, the joint venture from Benjamin Barron and Bror August Vestbø that counts Charli XCX and Lily Rose-Depp among its rapidly-growing fanbase. It's a competitive race every year, and winners have gone on to become industry staples with backing from the panel of 80 fashion experts who decide the final prizes. (See: 2016 winner Grace Wales Bonner and 2020 finalist Chopova Lowena.) But this year's list makes this editor particularly excited about the future of fashion.
There is, of course, incontestable talent on display. Marie Claire fashion features editor Emma Childs was thrilled to see Kazakhstani designer Meruert Tolegen on the list, after Tolegen had thoroughly impressed our team during her New York Fashion Week debut one year ago. "Tolegen showed floral puffer coats, peplum bustiers, and lace-trimmed taffeta skirts that called on the unapologetic femininity of Simone Rocha and Cecilie Bahnsen," Childs tells me. "But by using heritage prints and craft techniques native to the Kazakh culture, Tolegen made it clear she's operating from an individual POV. I left the show beguiled by the brand and eager for all that was to come from her."
In lock-step with all 20 designers' attention to form, fit, and aesthetics comes a notable emphasis on forward-thinking design and inclusion. Six labels—including Boyedoe, Josh Tafoya, and the aforementioned All-In—produce genderless collections. Eight are helmed by women designers—notable in an industry where women don't often shop from designers who get them. Two London-based standouts, Tolu Coker and Torishéju Dumi, bring complementary (but not at all identical) interpretations of their founders Nigerian culture to the stages of London and Paris Fashion Week. And, they've done so while earning praise from the likes of Doechii and Zendaya.
"Dumi certainly knows how to put on a spectacle and generate hubbub," says Childs, "but above all, she's an artist with something to say."
The same assessment applies to Irish designer Sinéad O'Dwyer, who generated the biggest headlines at Copenhagen Fashion Week last August with a show that featured a fully size-inclusive cast. She also brought the fashion week's first visually-impaired model onto her modern workwear runway—a reminder that everyone can and should participate in fashion.
Outside fashion industry circles, distinctions like the LVMH Prize might not register. But trust that the home of Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Celine recognizing labels like Coker's and O'Dwyer's is a big deal. There's an implicit understanding here that great clothes are an essential part of the style conversation, but so are modes of expression that include more than the traditional perspective. And as the fashion business only gets more challenging for emerging labels, backing from powerhouses is all the more imperative to foster their growth.
Bottom line: We can all be proud of whoever wins in March.
