After a year of COVID lockdowns, optimism was the prevailing attitude of the fall 2021 collections, and it’s the defining characteristic of this year’s LVMH Prize semi-finalists too. “They’re resolutely turned towards the future,” said Delphine Arnault, the executive vice president of Louis Vuitton and founder of the prize, in an email exchange. A “constant of this edition,” she added, is “their sincere and deep commitment to the major issues of our society: ecology, social, and environmental responsibility. They are all very committed.”
This year’s competition hasn’t been unaffected by the pandemic. The Avenue Montaigne showroom where the semi-finalists typically display their work during Paris Fashion Week was forced to go digital, and the serendipitous conversations you can count on happening there took place over Zoom, if they happened at all. But it’s not all negatives. As Arnault explained, “the digital platform for this semi-final gave us the opportunity to share the candidates’ creations with the general public, in addition to the Committee of Experts and the press…. The public vote appeared to us to be an obvious extension of this openness and already more than 32,000 have voted online.”
Even when the event is IRL again, the public element isn’t likely to go away. “The success of the digital platform and the number of connections since April 6 [when it launched] is a great encouragement for all designers. It shows the interest of the public to discover, share, and engage with the young creators. This will of course be taken into account for the years to come,” Arnault said.
Bigger picture, the COVID crisis seems to be shaping adaptable, well-rounded, refreshingly uncossetted young designers. “I was very impressed by the maturity of all the semi-finalists,” Arnault said. “Indeed, apart from their creative talent, they show a real mastery of the issues that come with the creation and perpetuation of a brand, and this in a world that is constantly evolving: They have paid particular attention to sourcing and production, but also to the marketing of their collections, because the health crisis has obviously impacted the traditional channels. They have thought about their business plan, they are very professional.”
Here, the LVMH Prize semi-finalists share selects looks from their latest collections alongside their impressions of the competition.