LVMH launches fashion award

Leading luxury family empire LVMH has launched an initiative this week to support young designers.

Announced by second-gen Delphine Arnault, the international award is open to designers 40-years-old or younger, who have already created two ready-to-wear men’s or women’s collections.

A panel of judges, including Karl Lagerfield and Marc Jacobs will decide on the winner, who will receive €300,000 to invest in their fashion company and support from a team of experts from LVMH to help them develop it over a period of 12 months.

They will receive advice on intellectual property, production and distribution, branding, advertising and marketing.

Arnault described the award as a philanthropic initiative and said it resonated with the core values of the LVMH group.

“Our goal is clearly to energize the vitality and creativity of the fashion world on a global scale. As a leader in our industry, we have a responsibility to discover young talents and to help them flourish," she said.

Other designers on the judging panel include: Carol Lim and Humberto Leon of Kenzo; Phoebe Philo of Celine; Raf Simons of Dior; Nicolas Ghesquiere of Louis Vuitton; and Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy.

LVMH will also recognise three recent fashion school graduates each year, offering them the chance to join the design team at the group for 12 months.

The fashion house is already accepting applications for the award at a dedicated website, and will announce the inaugural winner in May next year.

Arnault is the daughter of Bernard Arnault, who bought the conglomerate in 1989, shortly after luxury brand Louis Vuitton merged with wine and spirits company Moet Hennessey.

In September she took up the role of executive vice president at Louis Vuitton, having previously worked in a similar role at Dior – another one of the group’s luxury brands.