Award for fashion designer: South African wins LVMH award

South African fashion designer Thebe Magugu has won the LVMH prize. The award is considered one of the most important awards for young designers and was awarded on Wednesday at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. Magugu prevailed against seven other finalists - for the first time a designer from Africa won.

Especially the political level of Magugu's designs was highlighted by the jury at the award ceremony. "He has ideas - though he's still so young - that can make his label a global brand," said Maria Grazia Chiuri, Creative Director of Dior, the business services industry service.

The designer studied fashion design, photography and media at the LISOF School of Fashion in Johannesburg and founded his label of the same name in 2016. Since then, his designs have focused on the latest political and social developments in his native country. For his fall 2018 collection he dealt with femicide in South Africa, draping inspired by his tribe of Tswana.

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Victor Thebe Magugu in one of his own designs

Even after winning, he would like to stay in Johannesburg and not move his headquarters to one of the great fashion cities of Paris or London. Currently, the collections are designed and produced in the South African city. "This is my mission as a designer and I want to show the world that in South Africa, too, a complete production cycle is possible," he said "Business of Fashion". Magugu wants to invest the prize money above all in the logistics of his label, especially the mailing of his collections from South Africa is still very difficult.

Most important award for young fashion designers

Since 2014, the world's largest luxury group LVMH annually awards an emerging fashion designer. The prize is intended to promote young talent and is endowed with 300,000 euros. In addition to the prize money, the winner will receive one-year mentoring by the company's experts. LVMH includes world-renowned fashion houses such as Dior, Louis Vuitton and Givenchy. The jury of the award consists of the creative directors of these brands and more than 60 industry experts, including top model Naomi Campbell and Emmanuelle Alt, editor-in-chief of Vogue, Paris.

Winning the prize not only provides the designers with financial flexibility, it can also be a stepping stone. For example, last year's winners Grace Wales Bonner (2016) and Marine Serre (2017) have firmly established themselves in the industry.

Special prize in honor of Karl Lagerfeld

Beside the Magugu also Hed Mayner was awarded. The Israeli won the Special Prize of the Jury. In honor of the deceased fashion designer in February, this was recently renamed the Karl Lagerfeld Prize. Mayner also consciously decided against one of the well-known fashion capitals and is sitting with his label in Tel Aviv.

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In addition to the Karl Lagerfeld Prize, Hed Mayner will also receive € 150,000 in prize money

1,700 designers from more than 100 countries applied for the LVMH Prize this year. Participants may be no more than 40 years old and must have produced and sold at least two collections. Except for the Japanese Masayuki Ino, who won with his label Doublet last year, the excellent designers all came from Europe.