ANDAM Announces the Finalists for the 30th Edition of Its Annual Award

The National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts (ANDAM) announced the 13 finalists up the 30th edition of its annual ANDAM Fashion Award, one of the most prestigious prizes in the industry—and one that has catapulted designers onto the global stage.

Past recipients include Martin Margiela, Viktor & Rolf, Jeremy Scott, Iris van Herpen, Anthony Vaccarello and Giles Deacon, all whom have since established thriving businesses or have been scooped up by behemoth brands. ANDAM has made it a point to support emerging talents through a sizable purse ($278,000 for grand prize; $111,000 for the creative label prize; $56,000 for the accessories prize; and $33,000 for the innovation prize) and a year’s-worth of mentorship with Renzo Rosso, the president of OTB. It looks for talents that have both the design chops and the business acumen to succeed in a saturated marketplace.

“Fashion is both a daily art affecting everyone and a major cultural and economic stake for France,” says Franck Riester, the French Minister of Culture. “I am particularly attached to up-and-coming designers who provide the dynamism and renewal of the fashion ecosystem.”

In this landmark year, the brands that have shown that they can think creatively and commercially are Coperni, Hed Mayner, Koché, and Kwaidan Editions, which are up for the grand prize. They’re followed by the nominees for the creative label prize (Boramy Viguer, Dawei, and Mansion); the accessories prize (Fabrizio Viti, Kara, and Khaoré); and the innovation prize (Ananas, Diam Concept, and Worn Again Technologies). The connective thread between them is that there isn’t one.

“This year’s selection of ANDAM finalists was particularly diverse and interesting, not uniformed by a single market trend or too business-driven,” says Ross. “And it was very international and culturally rich.”

All these burgeoning labels will be given the opportunity to show their collections in Paris on June 27th to a panel of judges that are comprised of Vogue Paris’s Emmanuelle Alt, Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault, LVMH CEO Sidney Toledano, Martin Margiela, and other fashion heavy hitters.