French luxury conglomerate LVMH Group has announced the semi-finalists for the 13th LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers. Twenty designers have been selected from 2,400 applications.
This year’s semi-finalists represent Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Colombian designer Manuela Alvarez’s womenswear brand Maz focuses on rooted luxury developed in collaboration with local artisan communities.
Born in Chongqing and now based in New York, Chinese designer Zane Li, a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, applies technical fabrics in his brand LII to present a futuristic fashion vision. Another shortlisted designer, Kinyan Lam, who grew up in Hong Kong, China and graduated from the London College of Fashion, presents a gender-neutral collection centred on layering and transparency through his eponymous brand.
The semi-finals will take place during Paris Fashion Week from March 4 to 5. For the first time, the venue will be La Samaritaine, the iconic Paris department store owned by LVMH Group.
The candidates’ works will be evaluated by 80 international fashion experts. The competition is also open to the public: from March 4 to 8, audiences can vote via the competition’s digital platform.
This year, the LVMH Prize will present three awards, attracting numerous designers and emerging brands from around the world. The line-up is highly diverse, with participants from 17 countries, the vast majority of whom are first-time entrants. The winners will be announced in September:
- The Grand Prize winner will receive a EUR 400,000 award and one year of strategic and operational support from teams within the luxury group;
- The Karl Lagerfeld Prize will grant EUR 200,000 and dedicated mentorship to a brand demonstrating outstanding creative potential;
- The Savoir-Faire Prize will award EUR 200,000 to a brand distinguished by exceptional craftsmanship and sustainable innovation.
“We are delighted that the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers has achieved such global success. This year’s 20 semi-finalists not only come from established fashion capitals, but also include designers from Georgia, Kenya and Thailand for the first time. We are also pleased to welcome back Kartik Research, which was shortlisted in the 2023 semi-finals,” the press release stated.
Kartik Research founder and Indian designer Kartik Kumra showcased his work at Paris Men’s Fashion Week just weeks ago and won the Fashion Trust Arabia Prize last year. In addition, several other participating brands have received various accolades:
- Nigerian designer Bubu Ogisi and her brand Iamisigo won the 2025 Copenhagen Fashion Week Zalando Visionary Award;
- Swedish designer Petra Fagerström founded her eponymous brand in 2025 and received the Challenge the Fabric Award in recognition of her exploration of innovative textiles;
- Belgian designer Julie Kegels won the 2025 Belgian Fashion Awards’ Emerging Designer of the Year;
- Spanish designer Tiscar Espadas received the 2024 Vogue Spain Fashion Fund and the Spanish Emerging Designer Award;
- Italian designer Luca Lin and his brand Act N°1 won the 2017 Who Is On Next? award, while former Act N°1 member Galib Gassanoff has also been shortlisted with his own brand Institution. Institution blends avant-garde dark aesthetics with Georgian culture and conceptual tailoring.
Additional shortlisted brands include:
- French designer Gabriel Figueiredo, whose brand De Pino specialises in crochet craftsmanship and unconventional silhouettes;
- New York-based Colleen Allen, who interprets the female silhouette with restraint;
- Thai design duo Cherry W. Rain-Phuangfueang and Teerapat Phuangfueang, whose brand Nong Rak creates poetic knitwear using recycled fibres;
- London-based Luke Derrick, who reimagines British sartorial traditions with ease and fluidity through his eponymous bespoke tailoring brand;
- British designer Harry Pontefract and his brand Ponte, inspired by London’s club culture;
- Daniel del Valle Fernandez’s brand The Vxlley, which merges Spanish folklore with queer aesthetics;
- Japanese designer Shinya Kozuka’s menswear brand Shinyakozuka, which reinterprets workwear;
- Japanese designer Kiichiro Asakawa’s menswear brand SSStein, focused on crafting luxurious wardrobe essentials;
- Golnar Ahmadian’s brand Golshaah, inspired by Persian culture, to create a classic wardrobe;
- Kenyan designer Anil Padia’s Yoshita 1967, which offers a fresh perspective by incorporating East African landscapes into sculptural, elegant womenswear silhouettes.
| Source: Official press release
| Image Credit: Official press release
| Editor: LeZhi
