The LVMH Prize got it right, + Steve O Smith the designer I’m obsessed with. Plus, why aren’t materials listed for each runway look?

I won’t always be talking about Capital F fashion in this letter, but allow me to now since the month of fashion weeks just ended. What I want to do is circle back to the beginning of September when LVMH announced the winners of their prestigious prizes for young fashion designers. I tend to be a bit skeptical when it comes to fashion royalty a la LVMH or the CFDA awarding ‘winners’. What they’re looking for –something that will be a commercial success– is not my priority. But having said that, I am excited about this years winners -all names that were virtually unknown to me before this.

The primary LVMH Prize was awarded to Ellen Hodakova Larsson, 32, a Swedish designer, founder of the womenswear brand Hodakova.She will receive a 400,000€ endowment and will be mentored for one year by a team of LVMH experts.

A dress constructed from white belts.

Larsson is an upcycler. She takes pre-existing garments and –along with deadstock fabric– and cuts, twists, adds, subtracts until they are transformed into something else completely. For Spring 2025 Larsson even made dresses from old canvas paintings. It feels as though she was on a country estate, and much like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, decided “hey kids, let’s put on a show!” using whatever was available. The results aren’t crafty but stunning in both design and execution. When you look at her dress made from belts or another from zippers what you first see is the dress. The materiality, while clever, doesn’t overwhelm or take precedence over the fact that these are garments meant to be worn and enjoyed.

Does LVMH think it will be able to translate this into something that makes them money? My first thought is it would be impossible. But then thinking of how we’re drowning in discarded items, maybe this is possible. After all, most luxury brands exist because of their accessories and perfumes sales. I could easily see Larsson becoming a go-to for individual looks and then her belt bags being what keeps her profitable.

Regardless, this can never be fully mass produced and awarding the LVMH Prize to Larsson perhaps signals that some people at LVMH know things need to change. And that the change is not only good but exciting.


The Karl Lagerfeld Prize was awarded to Duran Lantink, 36, a Dutch designer, founder of the womenswear, menswear and genderless brand Duran Lantink. It includes a 200,000€ endowment and a year’s mentorship by the LVMH Group. The Lagerfeld Prize “recognizes the creativity” of young brands.

Okay, I’ve never heard of Duran Lantink before now. Which proves I don’t follow traditional fashion because a quick search shows he’s everywhere –including the BoF fashion 500 and his first collection on Vogue Runway was in 2021 and reviewed by Sarah Mower whose taste I trust. Well, I know of him now and what we really need to discuss is the genius of that ‘21 show.

Lantink also began as an upcycler –but of garments that went unsold from luxury brands like Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton. He showed this first official collection (he’s been designing since 2013) in a video filmed by drones in a castle/former hunting lodge of the Dutch royal family. At the time of the video it was being repurposed by the Meyer Beckman Foundation as a center for platforming made-in-Holland sustainable manufacturing solutions.

While the video is impressive, we need to circle back to the clothes. Watching a model walking through the space in a mini-dress awash in LV logos I see how this went viral. This year’s collection no longer uses designer clothes but still deadstock fabric. He’s been a bit obsessed with padding recently but has taken it down a notch for this collection.

But the process is what interests me most. Lantink doesn’t believe a garment is ever “finished” and so if you’d like your Duran Lantink dress converted to a jacket they’ll do that. This way of thinking, along with his commitment to use pre-existing or planet positive materials makes Lantink a designer worth watching.


And finally, this year there was a new prize: the Savoir-Faire Prize. It focuses on exceptional craftsmanship, technical expertise, innovation or sustainability in a young brand. The Savoir-Faire Prize was awarded to Standing Ground, a womenswear brand founded by Michael Stewart, 35, an Irish designer. He will receive 200,000€ and a one-year mentorship by a team of LVMH ****experts.

Standing Ground by Michael Stewart detail shot
close up of the beading work in Stewart’s collection

No upcycling or repurposing here. Instead there is meticulous creation of garments by inserting beads between fabric to create a sort of exoskeleton. Like Larsson and Lantink, Michael Stewart has his own specific process that isn’t easily replicated. During the review of his work as an LVMH finalist he was asked several times about the possibility of mass production. The answer each time was a clear no. Stewart is insistent that his work is only made to order.


And one more designer I’m excited about: Steve O Smith

I think I came across Steve O Smith scrolling through instagram. If I had been paying attention to the red carpet at the Met Gala last spring I could have seen his work on Eddie Redmayne and his wife Hannah Bagshawe but I wasn’t.

Smith’s style of designing came about when he was at Central Saint Martins and someone remarked that his clothes never looked as good as his sketches. This was an a-ha! moment for Smith and he began attempting to create clothes that indeed looked like a sketch.

Working in a customized made-to-order only fashion, Smith has somehow transferred this sketch aesthetic into wearable pieces unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I am officially obsessed. His inspiration comes from the 1920s and ‘30s. Last season it was George Grosz’s sketches of nightlife at the height of the Weimar Republic in Berlin, this season the young seductress that was Louise Brooks in Pandora’s Box.

Smith started as a fine artist and he has found a way to make this into garments. That he chooses to create in a small way should allow for longevity.


Why aren’t materials listed for each runway look?

In doing my research during fashion week I was struck by how difficult it was to find out the materials used in each look. As we learn about the importance of what we put on our body this feels like a gross –and completely intentional– oversight. If it was easy to find that the dress on the runway was 100% polyester or that ‘vegan’ bag by Stella was plastic there might be raised eyebrows at the prices. We need to know these things –as well as those who are using better materials.

Lastly, a big congrats to Luke Haverhals and NFW for being an earthshot finalist!

 
 
 
 
 
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–Katya Moorman
Editor’s Letter 10.04.24

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