PARIS – Hodakova, the Stockholm-based label founded by Ellen Hodakova Larsson, won top honours at the 2024 LVMH Prize announced in Paris Tuesday for creating both desirable silhouettes and a viable business model for an upcycling brand.

Hodakova impressed the jury with her “combination of savoir-faire, sustainability — and desirability,” senior LVMH executive and jury member Sidney Toledano said. “Like many of the designers this year, the brand has a mature point of view, not just on fashion but on business and the world.”

In a prize ceremony at the Frank Gehry-designer Louis Vuitton Foundation, a tearful Larsson said she was “super excited to show us her next chapter” at her upcoming fashion show on September 24th in Paris, before turning to the jury to promise: “I’ll work really hard.”

With prize money of €400,000 and a year of mentorship from LVMH executives, Hodakova hopes to “build an infrastructure where we can change from a small perspective to a big perspective,” Larsson told reporters.

Duran Lantink, the Amsterdam-based designer known for his padded, body-exaggerating silhouettes took home LVMH’s runner-up Karl Lagerfeld Prize (€200,000 and one year of mentorship). In recent seasons, Lantink has attracted the support of cool kids and fashion imagemakers, with pieces from his well-attended shows making their way into the pages of British Vogue, Dazed and i-D as well onto the likes of Beyoncé and Billie Eilish.

LVMH also unveiled a new prize to recognize craftsmanship, which jury members said was particularly strong this year across the cohort of finalists. The €200,000 award is accompanied by a specific mentoring programme focused on encouraging the transmission of savoir faire. “Fashion isn’t just about creativity, it’s about know-how,” LVMH Prize founder and Christian Dior chief executive Delphine Arnault explained.

The inaugural Savoir-Faire Prize went to Standing Ground, a London-based concept designed by Irish designer Michael Stewart. His artfully draped evening ensembles are suffused with references to the ancient world as well as imagined futures, and are adorned with signature details like padded waistlines and beaded pleats.

Other finalists included London-based designers Pauline Dujancourt and Paolo Carzana, Belgian designer Marie Adam-Leenaerdt, Aubuero by New York designer Julian Louie, and Milan-based Niccolò Pasqualetti.

Most of the finalists plan to show in the upcoming European fashion weeks. Standing Ground and Carzana show in London, while Hodakova, Lantink, Adam-Leenaerdt and Pasqualetti are all slated to show in Paris later this month.

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