Meet the finalists for the LVMH Prize 2019

THEBE MAGUGU (the brand) is a contemporary South African fashion brand primarily operating within the field of women’s ready to wear, while having a firm footing in accessories and small multidisciplinary projects. Thebe Magugu (the human) is committed to creating clothes that merge his South African heritage with contemporary shapes and proportions. He is also engaged in creating community through the publication of Faculty Press, a sort of yearbook celebrating his friends, other South African creatives, and sharing their unique work and cultural experience with the rest of us.

FOLLOWING?

We can’t say enough about Bethany Williams. She is not only 100% committed to sustainability, she works with different charitable organizations from drug rehabs to food banks and donates a portion of the proceeds. Not only that, she often employs people from these services to help execute her vision -in a way that’s collaborative and empowering as opposed to condescending. Oh- and the end results are covetable!

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Love a woman doing menswear instead of the other way around. She’s fearless in her incorporation of techniques long associated with “women’s work” like mending, quilting and applique. She often cuts from antique fabrics, victorian quilts and bed linens and makes the old feel new. Made in NYC, baby.

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We love the layering and layering and…layering that Hed Mayner showed in his recent collection. Israeli but showing in Paris, his designs were influenced by Jewish Orthodox tailoring – but so much chicer then we see in our Brooklyn ‘hood. He prefers to work with recycled and natural fabrics and refined fabrications.

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Originally from Nigeria, Kenneth Izedonmwen shows in both Lagos and Paris. He focuses on reinterpreting examples of Nigerian craft to create an original perspective on luxury production within textile and fashion. They work with a community of weavers to create the fabric known as aso oke which is created on wooden looms and can take 8 hours for a two-yard strip to be made. He also works with a variety of artisan and design groups across Nigeria. KENNETH IZE is devoted to the long established traditions of craft and local artisanship, merging a contemporary design aesthetic and new production skills with a specifically local handcraft practice. It is an approach they hope to expand upon to include other design cultures around Africa and abroad. There is the strong belief that in exploring and nurturing existing cultures, one opens up an exciting territory for creating and inspiring future traditions.

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PHIPPS was founded on the principles of respect and curiosity for the natural world. Spencer Phipps graduated from Parsons in ‘08 and went on to work with Marc Jacobs and Dries Van Noten before starting his own line in 2017. Not only are they hardcore about sustainable manufacturing and eco-friendly materials but they aspire to educate through their clothing -either through graphics or material sourcing etc.

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Recent grads of Central Saint Martins, Stefan Cooke and Jake Burt established their label in 2017. They aspire towards impeccable craftsmanship injected with celebration and glamour. One of their strengths is their interest in deconstructing existing garments to create something new. They are known for precise tailoring as well as some tongue-in-cheek humor: like their handbag-print recycled-paper tote bag.

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Kunihiko Morinaga is a Tokyo-based designer who shows in Paris. His brand Anrelage means “real and unreal” and there is often the high concepts of Commes des Garcons but with more wearability for the average person. He can also be extremely meticulous: the patchwork dress on the left was made with 2000 fabric pieces including 500 different kinds of used textiles. As Kunihiko’s fond of saying “God is in the details.”

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