ANDAM award names 2017 finalists

ANDAM, the National Association for the Development of Fashion Artists, has named four emerging labels as finalists for this year’s prestigious Fashion Award, which will see the winner scooping 250,000 euros to develop their brand, as well as receiving mentoring from Yves Saint Laurent chief executive officer Francesca Bellettini.

The four brands competing for the top honour will be Aalto by Finnish designer Tuomas Merikoski, Koché helmed by Christelle Kocher, French designer Martine Rose and Y/Project, founded by Belgian designer Glenn Martens in 2013.

“ANDAM is the home for fresh ideas and new possibilities, where talents are free to bring their unique vision and push themselves forward. The House of Yves Saint Laurent has always been driven by incredible creators and inspired by upcoming generations,” said Bellettini. “I’m honoured to have the chance to contribute to look for the creativity and the energy necessary to build the future of fashion. This year the panel of talent is amazing again and I am looking forward to exchange with all of them.”

The prestigious prize, which has acted as an international springboard for numerous designers including Martin Margiela, Viktor and Rolf, Christophe Lemaire, Jeremy Scott, and last year’s winner, Johanna Senyk of Wanda Nylon, will name the 2017 winner following the presentation of all finalists to the 25 members of the judging panel on June 30.

ANDAM announces shortlist for its 2017 awards

In addition to the main ANDAM Fashion Award, the contest will also offer three other awards, including a new award geared to promote innovation within fashion.

Competing for the Creative Label prize, worth 100,000 euros, are Avoc, Nïuku and Marine Serre, while in the Fashion Accessories category, the shortlisted designers are Ana Khouri, La Contrie and Le Gramme, who are up for a 50,000 euros prize.

This year also sees the introduction of the Fashion Innovation Prize, worth 30,000 euros. In the running are start-ups Euveka, which specialises in smart mannequins, Percko, which makes posture-improving inner wear, and Smartpixels, a specialist in augmented reality modelling.

All thirteen finalists of the 2017 ANDAM fashion awards will be offered mentoring by department store Galeries Lafayette to help them understand the store’s planning objectives and positioning, as well as a meeting with Matches Fashion to present their brands and receive digital and commercial mentoring from the brand’s teams. In addition, Swarovski will offer a dedicated workshop to showcase the creative possibilities crystals offer a collection, and MAC cosmetics will assist the finalists through makeup artistry and product support backstage during fashion week, look book shoots, presentations and other events throughout the year.

The finalists of the First Collections Prize and Fashion Accessories Prize will also benefit from access to the IFM Labels programme at the Institut Français de la Mode, a 12-month accelerator course for young creative brands.

ANDAM, which was founded by Nathalie Dufour in a joint initiative with the French government, is now in its 27th year and this year’s event is financially supported by 17 private and institutional partners including Chanel, Chloé, Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent Foundation, Galeries Lafayette, Hermès, Kering and LVMH.

All of the ANDAM 2017 awards will be announced following the judging panel event on June 30.

Images: Aalto pre-fall 2017 - via Aalto Facebook; Y/Project autumn/winter 2017 via Y/Project Facebook