Dear Shaded Viewers,
The twelfth edition final of the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers unfolded on September 3, 2025, at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, drawing the industry’s elite to celebrate the next wave of global talent. The Jury—a constellation of nine creative directors from LVMH maisons including Jonathan Anderson, Sarah Burton, Nicolas Ghesquière, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, Nigo, Phoebe Philo, Silvia Venturini Fendi, and Pharrell Williams, joined by Delphine Arnault, Jean-Paul Claverie, and Sidney Toledano—chose this year’s standouts. Bollywood luminary Deepika Padukone brought her international flair to the panel as a special guest juror.
Delphine Arnault, presiding over the ceremony, shared: “It was an honor to welcome the distinguished Jury once more to the Fondation Louis Vuitton. I thank each member for their commitment and invaluable support of young creativity.” This year, the LVMH Prize went to Soshi Otsuki, whose sumptuous, precisely-cut menswear made a lasting impression. The Karl Lagerfeld Prize was awarded to Steve O Smith, whose garments transform his expressive sketches into brilliantly executed designs. Torishéju Dumi received the Savoir-Faire Prize for her multicultural approach, marked by audacious silhouettes and volumes.
Arnault extended heartfelt congratulations to all finalists, saluting their singular talent and extraordinary vision, and expressed deep gratitude to Deepika Padukone, Anna Sawai, and Camille Cottin—the day’s inspiring guests.
LVMH Prize 2025
Japanese designer Soshi Otsuki, 35, founder of the menswear label Soshiotsuki, took home the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers this year—a top honor that brings not only prestige but real transformative possibility: a €400,000 grant and a year-long mentorship program within the LVMH group, spanning the breadth of fashion’s arcane arts and strategic disciplines.
The prize, presented in Paris by Deepika Padukone, radiant in Louis Vuitton, acknowledges Otsuki’s talent for blending classical Japanese aesthetics with inventive tailoring—a creative vision shaped by his fascination for Japanese performing arts. Joining the most illustrious alumni of the LVMH Prize, Otsuki now carries forward the torch of global innovation, with the group’s support guiding every step of his path from cult designer to industry catalyst.
Torishéju Dumi Savoir-Faire Prize
Torishéju Dumi, 32, the London-based designer rewriting the codes of femininity and masculinity through her label, Torishéju, was honored with the Savoir-Faire Prize at the 2025 LVMH ceremony—a recognition laced with substance: a €200,000 grant, a year-long mentorship from LVMH, and the promise of creative communion with the storied embroidery atelier Vermont, whose support supplies an additional €50,000 for her forthcoming work.
This prize, presented by actress Camille Cottin herself, dressed in Dior, signals more than just financial backing; it offers Dumi deep immersion into the Métiers d’Excellence, linking her practice to the most storied houses of French craft. Alongside her fellow laureates, Dumi will benefit from tailored guidance and receive additional funding from Nona Source—a platform re-energizing dormant luxury fabrics—totaling €10,000 for the Savoir-Faire Prize. The stage is set for her to push technical mastery and poetic construction even further, echoing her commitment to honoring and reinventing the heritage of high fashion for a new era.
Steve O Smith, the 33-year-old London-based designer known for blurring the boundaries between art and fashion, claimed the Karl Lagerfeld Prize at this year’s LVMH Prize ceremony, a moment that spotlights his original approach to both menswear and womenswear. Smith’s work translates the expressive energy of his hand-drawn lines into clothing through intricate appliqué and tailored construction—each garment an echo of his mark-making, each collection a living sketchbook for the body.
The Karl Lagerfeld Prize comes with a €200,000 grant and a one-year mentorship within the LVMH group, promising Smith a launchpad for his imaginative creative process. His pieces read as wearable illustrations: flowing silhouettes, graphic flourishes and fluid forms that speak to a love of both technical mastery and emotional resonance. As Smith joins a celebrated lineage of fashion visionaries, the industry looks eagerly toward the ways his inimitable style will shape the next chapter of contemporary design.
The LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Graduates shone a spotlight on three emerging talents this year: Louna Clozel (La Cambre, Brussels), Sophia Sacchetti (Parsons Paris), and Peiwen Mao (Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp). Each graduate, along with their respective institution, receives a €10,000 grant—a welcome support at the outset of their creative careers.
But the real launchpad is the one-year placement each winner is granted inside the creative studios of LVMH’s most iconic maisons: Louna at Louis Vuitton Homme, Sophia at Kenzo, and Peiwen at Dior Femme. This rare access promises not only exposure to the pulse of luxury fashion’s ateliers but also a chance to shape and be shaped by its legacy—bridging academy to industry, fresh vision to established artistry.
Legacy and Prospects
As the LVMH Prize continues to launch talents such as Marine Serre, Jacquemus, and Nensi Dojaka, the inclusion and recognition of brands like August Barron and HODAKOVA signal the SFC Incubator’s steady rise as a force in international fashion—identifying, supporting, and elevating the most visionary designers of our time.
Later,
Diane
