At the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris on Wednesday, Setchu by Satoshi Kuwata took home the 2023 LVMH Prize for Young Designers, earning a grand prize of €400,000 EUR and a year-long mentorship from LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s experts in sustainability, communications, marketing, legal, production and finance.
In the award’s tenth anniversary, Kuwata was crowned the winner by Israeli actress Gal Gadot, alongside a panel of esteemed jury members, which included Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri and Kim Jones, Louis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière, Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs and Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson.
Notably, Kuwata beat out roughly 2,400 applicants from 15 countries to win the highly-coveted prize, which has previously been presented to designers including S.S. Daley, Nensi Dojaka, Thebe Magugu, Marine Serre, Grace Wales Bonner and more. For the 2023 edition, he was up against eight impressive finalists, including Luar by Raul Lopez, Diotima by Rachel Scott, Aaron Esh, Paolina Russo, Lucile Guilmard, Burç Akyol and Quira by Veronica Leoni.
Kuwata, hailing from Kyoto, Japan, moved to London at 21, where he studied fashion design at Central Saint Martins. Entering the industry at Hunstman in Saville Row, the designer later gained experience via Gareth Pugh in London, Kanye West and Givenchy in Paris, Edun in New York City and Golden Goose in Milan before establishing his unisex brand Setchu in 2020.
Meanwhile, the Karl Lagerfeld Prize was given to two designers: Bettter by Julie Pelipas (Ukraine) and Magliano by Luca Maglliano (Italy). Both labels will receive €200,000 EUR prizes, along with one-year mentorships from LVMH.
In more fashion news, Ferragamo Resort 2024 makes a strong case for minimalism.
