The LVMH Prize for young fashion designers has unveiled its nine finalists for 2026, following the twenty who presented their collection at the LVMH showroom back in March, which was already whittled down from over 2,400 applicants. The Paris Fashion Week showroom offered us an early opportunity to encounter several of this year’s finalists up close. While fashion is still deciding what its relationship with AI will look like, it felt reassuring to see so many different designers rooted in handwork and shaped by ideas with distinct points of view. I say reassuring because I strongly believe that luxury must have a human hand behind it.
The final will take place on 4 September, where a jury that reads like a who’s who of fashion, made up of Jonathan Anderson, Phoebe Philo, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, and Pharrell Williams, alongside industry power players shaping luxury today, there were also some new names joining the prestigious jury.
“I am delighted to announce the names of the nine finalists for the 2026 LVMH Prize. This shortlist illustrates the Prize’s reach, with designers from the United States, Europe, China and, for the first time, Kenya. The finalists demonstrated a singular creative vision while offering highly sophisticated interpretations of traditional craftsmanship. I am also very grateful to our Committee of Experts for their commitment to emerging talent,” stated Delphine Arnault in the press announcement. “Furthermore, on the occasion of this edition, I am delighted to welcome new members to our exceptional Jury: Jack McCollough, Lazaro Hernandez, Camille Miceli, Michael Rider and Pietro Beccari. I warmly congratulate the finalists and look forward to welcoming them to the LVMH Prize final, which will be held at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.”
The LVMH platform has become more than a prize; over the past decade, it has actively been constructing the future of fashion. 2024 Karl Lagerfeld Prize Winner Duran Lantink made his debut last year for the iconic house of Jean Paul Gaultier. Many of us are already counting down to January 2027, when 2016 winner Grace Bonner will be showing her first collection for Hermès Homme. With €400,000 and a year-long mentorship at stake for the main award, plus additional prizes honoring Karl Lagerfeld and savoir-faire, the impact is not only tangible, but cultural too. When Marine Serre won just under a decade ago, words like upcycling and deadstock sounded like a buzzword or trend. Today, almost all of the finalists in their own way are interrogating materials, production, and demonstrating that responsibility now sits at the very core of where fashion is headed.
2026 nine finalists are:
COLLEEN ALLEN by Colleen Allen, United States, womenswear
DE PINO by Gabriel Figueiredo, France, womenswear
INSTITUTION by Galib Gassanoff, Georgia, womenswear, menswear and genderless collections
JULIE KEGELS by Julie Kegels, Belgium, womenswear
LII by Zane Li, China, womenswear and menswear
PETRA FAGERSTRÖM by Petra Fagerström, Sweden, womenswear
PONTE by Harry Pontefract, United Kingdom, womenswear and menswear
THE VXLLEY by Daniel del Valle Fernandez, Spain, genderless collections
YOSHITA 1967 by Anil Padia, Kenya, womenswear
