Image courtesy of LVMH
Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is kicking off the fourth annual edition of its prize, continuing its mission to identify, mentor and support emerging design talent.
The LVMH Prize, given to a designer under the age of 41 who has sold at least two ready-to-wear collections, includes a cash grant of 300,000 euro, or about $319,000 at current exchange. In addition to the monetary aid, the winner will receive a 12-month mentorship by an LVMH team on business development subjects such as marketing, intellectual property and production.
Talent search
After entrants have submitted their applications, an international committee comprised of fashion photographers, models, journalists, stylists, buyers and other industry personnel will whittle the pool to eight finalists. This 40-member committee includes seven new experts for 2017, with Barneys New York creative director Dennis Freedman, sound designer Michele Gaubert and reporter Derek Blasberg joining existing committee members such as Carine Roitfeld and Suzy Menkes.
From there, a jury will select the prize winner, who will be announced at an event at Fondation Louis Vuitton in June.
Nine of the 12 jury members are creative directors of LVMH houses, including jury newcomer Maria Grazia Chiuri of Dior, who began at the brand in 2016. She joins Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson, Louis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière, Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld of Fendi, Kenzo’s Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, Phoebe Philo from Céline, and Ricardo Tisci of Givenchy.
LVMH Prize experts
Also on the jury are Louis Vuitton executive vice president Delphine Arnault, LVMH fashion group chairman/CEO Pierre-Yves Roussel and Jean-Paul Claverie, advisor to Bernard Arnault and director of corporate patronage at LVMH.
Applications will be accepted from Jan. 13 to Feb. 5. Last year’s competition drew in more than 1,000 submissions, with Grace Wales Bonner coming out on top (see story).
“With this fourth edition of the LVMH Prize, the group is pleased to be able to count on the loyalty of so many professionals and exceptional artistic directors in supporting young designers,” Ms. Arnault said in a brand statement. “As the industry leader, it is the LVMH Group’s responsibility to spot tomorrow’s talents and offer them the means to grow.”
LVMH also offers a prize to students graduating in 2017, which gives three winners a 10,000 euro grant and the opportunity to work with one of LVMH's houses for a year. The deadline for this application is Feb. 15.