An intense year is ahead for the Prix de l'Andam in 2024. The fashion competition for young designers, founded and directed by Nathalie Dufour, celebrates its 35th anniversary with a series of special events and social media content. This year, the award is sponsored by Anthony Vaccarello, creative director of Saint Laurent, who will chair the jury whose composition is about to be announced.
In addition to the permanent jury made up of twenty-two members representing the main sponsors of the competition, Anthony Vaccarello has chosen another dozen key figures. It is the first time that the presidency of the Andam jury falls to a designer, since this position is normally held by the general director of one of the fashion houses associated with the contest. “Winner of the Andam award in 2011, the designer had this nice gesture in this special year, especially because the award is strongly linked to the house, since Pierre Bergé with the Pierre Bergé Foundation – Yves Saint Laurent participated in the creation of this award in 1989, of which he was president until 2017,” recalls Nathalie Dufour.
“It is like a tribute to the personality of Pierre Bergé. It is a very exceptional gesture, which really corresponds to these 35 years,” he adds. The designer will also design the competition trophies himself, in collaboration with Swarovski, another of Andam's sponsors, while this task is usually entrusted to the previous year's winners.
The program of events to celebrate the anniversary includes an evening hosted on March 1 at Maxim's with Andam partner Who's Next and its Première Classe salon, which is also celebrating its 35th anniversary. In another initiative that will take place in June and July, Galeries-Lafayette, another partner whose image and communication director Guillaume Houzé is the president of Andam, will present all the former award winners sold in the store, from Alexandre Mattiussi of Ami to Marine Serre, through a tour of the store.
At the same time, the Association nationale pour le développement des arts de la mode (Andam) will publish information about its former winners on its Instagram account and social networks throughout the year, on the topic “What have they become? “. with archive images and information about its news.
“We have been in contact with all of them, from Martin Margiela to the latest winners, including those who are already retired. They have all remained in the creative field. José Lévy, who won the prize in 1991, for example, designs furniture. Very We often find them in studios number 1, 2 or 3,” says the general director of the contest.
Additionally, at the end of September, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs will highlight the winners of the last two years through the emblematic silhouettes they have created for Andam and that they have donated or will donate to the Parisian museum. “The interesting thing is to demonstrate that contemporary design immediately makes history,” says the general director.
Stéphane Ashpool will participate
Last but not least, Stéphane Ashpool, who designed the French team's kit at the Paris Olympics, will be part of the festivities program for Andam 2024, for which he won the grand prize in 2015. But Nathalie Dufour will not he knows. us more at this moment…
Andam received about 350 applications this year. The organizers make an initial selection, keeping half of them. Of the remaining candidates, the jury will have to choose four finalists for the Grand Prize and the Special Prize, almost three for the Pierre Bergé Prize, which refers to French and new brands and which is sponsored in 2024 by Michael Kliger, CEO of Mytheresa , and three for the Accessories Award, sponsored this year by Eva Chen, vice president of Fashion Partnerships at Instagram. In addition, a panel of experts will select the finalists for the Innovation award, which will be announced in May.
“The prize of 700,000 euros is divided between these four prizes. There are few prizes, but each of them is highly rewarded. A true springboard effect is produced and, behind the scenes, the winners benefit from the interdisciplinary support of each of our partners.”, highlights Nathalie Dufour. The fashion contest finalists will be announced at the end of May and the winners on June 27.
“Andam has created a unique ecosystem around young designers, in which some of the key players in the industry take an interest in the younger generation and support them, both financially and strategically, in terms of image, digital, management, etc.”, says the founder. . “The partner fashion houses support the Grand Prize winners, while the winners of the other prizes are supported by our other sponsors. There is a sincere commitment from everyone,” he says.
“In the late 80s I was working in the Ministry of Culture; Minister Jack Lang wanted projects on cultural and creative industries. He helped us get our foot in the door. There was a certain openness at that time. I'm not sure that today it would be possible. I created this association and, thanks to the support of Pierre Bergé, it was able to really take off,” he concludes.
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