Photo: Courtesy of The LVMH Prize
Since its founding in 2014, the LVMH Prize has fostered some of the most exciting young in fashion, including 2017 winner Marine Serre and 2016 winner Grace Wales Bonner as well as runner-ups Shayne Oliver and Simon Porte Jacquemus. Announced this morning, this year’s shortlist looks equally interesting and diverse, spanning different styles, techniques and continents. Designers like London’s Bethany Williams and San Fran local Spencer Phipps are pushing the agenda in terms of eco fashion and sustainability, whereas Nigeria’s Kenneth Ize and Israeli Hedi Mayner are re-imagining tailoring for a new generation. Here’s what you need to know about the 8 finalists before the winner is announced in July.
Emily Bode
29-year-old New York designer Emily Bode is making waves with her crafty and personal approach to menswear. Her designs are infused with storytelling devices, such as heritage fabrics, like khadi a hand-loomed Indian cotton, and vintage quilts transformed into jackets. Employing techniques like appliqué, patchwork and embroidery to infiltrate masculine silhouettes with traditionally feminine crafts, it’s easy to see why she’s a finalist.
Kunihiko Morinaga
Japanese designer Kunihiko Morinaga of Tokyo label Adrealage is interested in created clothes that reflect our technology-driven environments — he once created a collection inspired by colour blocked pixels. Although he uses high tech materials and progressive techniques, Morinaga is hooked on making clothes for the real world.
Bethany Williams
Probably one of the best known on the shortlist, Londoner Bethany Williams is a pioneering talent on the sustainable fashion scene. For her SS18 collection, Breadline, she collaborated with Vauxhall Food Bank and supermarket chain Tesco to create a collection made from waste materials and recycled cardboard to shed light on the UK food shortage problem. Williams has said that she hates the “wasteful aspect” of the industry and seeks a new environmentally-forward way of working.
Hed Mayner
Tel Aviv-based designer Hed Mayner offers a masterclass in a cool, contemporary approach to tailoring. For his most recent AW19 collection, Mayner presented oversized proportions that play with a combination of fluid drapery and structured layers demonstrating a deliciously wearable approach to modern dressing.
Kenneth Ize
It’s easy to see why 28-year-old Nigerian designer Kenneth Ize has been nominated for this year’s prize. His brightly-coloured suits cut from a handwoven fabric known as aso oke are both beguilingly tactile and delightfully eye-catching. Working with craftspeople across his native Nigeria, Ize’s tailoring nurtures local traditions as much as he elevates them to the mainstream.
Spencer Phipps
Spencer Phipps’ brand Phipps International is quickly becoming the “It” menswear brand you need to know. Hailing from San Francisco, Phipps mingles West Coast cool with a desirable sustainable ethos — his garments are made from organic cotton and recycled materials. Having cut his teeth at Dries Van Noten and Marc Jacobs, Phipps understands the necessity of a finely-crafted silhouette but one that is combined with an contemporary consciousness and a much-needed dose of good humour.
Stefan Cooke & Jake Burt
After presenting at CSM’s MA graduate showcase back in 2017, British designer Stefan Cooke has emerged as an exciting name to watch on the London circuit. Since then, Cooke has teamed up with his partner, Jake Burt, on his eponymous brand to make artfully re-designed “ordinary” pieces of clothing — a sweater vest punctuated with holes, for example, or a neat Fair Isle sweater entangled in a coil of rope.
Thebe Magugu
With collections entitled Gender Studies and Home Economics, Thebe Magugu makes clothes that explore and celebrate womanhood in his native South Africa. The 25-year-old, who is based in Johannesburg, is quickly making a name for himself on account of his intelligent approach to tailoring and liberal use of colour — a candy pink faux ostrich coat of his was recently featured at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s exhibition, Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color, in New York.