H&M Design Awards finalists announced

The H&M Design Awards are being held in London's Kensington Palace on Monday, to showcase the best work by fashion design students from around the world.

H&M will award 50,000 euros to the winner, including developing a capsule collection which will be sold at select H&M outlets. Eligible students include 2015 BA and MA graduates and of the eight finalists for 2015, five students hail from London: Milligan Beaumont, Jemma Beech, and Gabriel Castro from Central St. Martins, Ka Wa Key Chow and Hannah Jinkins from the Royal College of Art. Other finalists include Enoch Chung from SADI in Seoul, Patrik Guggenberger from Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm and Long Xu from New York's Parsons Institute.

New on the judging panel are Balmain's creative director Olivier Rousteing, photographer Nick Knight, stylist Katie England and actress Kate Bosworth, who join H&M's Margareta van den Bosch and Ann-Sofie Johannson.

Instagram has been inundated with images from the finalist's show, which sees the contestants present several key looks to the jury and judges.

Last year's winner Ximon Lee was the first men's clothing designer to win the H&M Design Award.

The H&M platform is a great opportunity for smaller labels to utilise the retail giant's global network of shops and introduce them to a customer they may never have found on their own. Of course the 50,000 euro prize money will go a long way in developing their collection and brand.