Robert Wun, Peter Do and Botter among finalists for ANDAM Prize

ANDAM has named seven finalists for the 2022 grand prize including London-based Robert Wun, New York City’s Peter Do, Dutch menswear label Botter and South Africa-based Lukhanyo Mdingi.

They will compete alongside Berlin-based womenswear label Ottolinger, Copenhagen’s Heliot Emil, and French gender-fluid brand Cool by Thomas Monet for the ANDAM Fashion Grand Prize worth 300,000 euros.

The French fashion prize, established in 1989, is designed to springboard the winning label in France and internationally, and for the first time, it will also award a runner-up Special Prize, with a cash award of 100,000 euros, to one of the finalists.

Commenting on this year’s finalists, Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel, and mentor of the 2022 ANDAM Fashion Award’s winner, said in a statement: “The creativity and diversity of the young designers shortlisted by the jury promise a high-quality competition. It is important to recall that the winners will be invited to show their collections in Paris and get to work with French craftsmen and Fashion Métiers d’art. I am delighted to see that their participation to the ANDAM Awards also reflects the attractiveness of Paris as world capital of fashion and of its ecosystem.”

ANDAM unveils 13 finalists for 2022

ANDAM also revealed three nominees for the Pierre Bergé Prize, which will reward a young French company with 100,000 euros to give the brand the “means to grow and reach an international audience”. Central Saint Martins graduate Benjamin Benmoyal, who combines upcycling and innovation, will compete for the honour alongside Paris-based menswear label, Bluemarble Paris by Anthony Alvarez, and Boyarovskaya, a label founded by Belarussian fashion designer Maria Boyarovskaya and Ukrainian fashion photographer Artem Kononenko.

In addition, there are three contenders for the ANDAM Accessories Prize, valued at 50,000 with mentorship from chief executive of WSN Frédéric Maus. The award will see former Carven designer Serge Ruffieux’s new label 13 09 SR co-founded with Emilie Faure up against London-based Romanian footwear designer Ancuta Sarca who creates sneaker-heel hybrids, and Paris-based jewellery designer Dolly Cohen who specialises in sculpture and hand made grills for celebrities.

ANDAM’s founder and managing director, Nathalie Dufour, added: “I am very proud of the strong coordination of our private and institutional sponsors, French and International, which, all together, allow the ANDAM Fashion Awards to reach an exceptional endowment of 620,000 euros.

“I would like to honour the expertise and thank the commitment of our jury’s members who selected 13 talented finalists with unique creative projects and singular committed vision.”

Alongside the financial grants and mentorships the winners will receive, ANDAM has also developed a year-round programme to support all finalists, offering them advice and expertise to help them structure and expand their businesses. The seven Grand Prix finalists also have the opportunity to meet OTB Group’s specialists in the fields of production, distribution, digitalisation, marketing and sustainability, and to benefit from their expertise and experience.