The finalists were just announced for the 2018 Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy Prize (LVMH), and two of the designers are Black!
The LVMH Prize, which was first launched in 2013, is an annual award granted to a young fashion designer with a monetary prize of 300,000 euros, or $370,000 at the current exchange rate, and a year of mentorship from executives at LVMH. LVMH also known as Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is the parent company of several luxury fashion brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy, Fendi and Céline.
For the 2018 LVMH Prize, nine finalists have been announced. One is Samuel Ross, the designer behind A-COLD-WALL. Ross, who previously worked as Virgil Abloh’s assistant, is a British designer who self-funded his luxury streetwear label.
Netherlands-based gender fluid fashion label BOTTER has also been nominated for the 2018 LVMH Prize, and Rushemy Botter, who’s originally from Curaçao and attended Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, is the designer behind the Caribbean-inspired brand. Dominican designer Lisi Herrebrugh is a co-designer of the BOTTER. After recently showing their debut collection at Amsterdam Fashion Week, the label already credits Naomi Campbell and Young Thug as fans.
The winner of the 2018 LVMH Prize will be announced on June 6 at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. Good luck to both Ross and Botter!