Just in: The Luxury Fashion Brand LVMH to Rename Special Prize After Karl Lagerfeld

Even after death legendary fashion icon, Karl Lagerfeld lives on in our memory as the high street fashion brand, LVMH renames their special prize in his honour.

The LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers is one of the fashion world’s best-known, most coveted and biggest prize. The award is open to emerging talents from all over the world.

Making the announcement, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton confirmed exclusively to WWD that its Special Prize will henceforth be known as Karl Lagerfeld Prize.

Karl Lagerfeld had a long successful career as the creative director of the house of Fendi since 1965 until his death earlier this year. 

Speaking about renaming the LVMH Special Prize, Delphine Arnault, a vital talent scout at the Luxury brand and number-two executive at the Louis Vuitton brand said:

“Karl Lagerfeld, creative director of the house of Fendi since 1963, was involved in the prize since its launch. He was fully committed to it since Day One, transporting us with his enthusiasm and his energy, sharing with everyone, whether other jury members or candidates, his culture and his passion for fashion. We shall always cherish those precious moments.”

In a further statement, Delphine who is the brain behind the award said,” The new Karl Lagerfeld Prize naturally perpetuates the closeness we developed over the years and is a tribute to the man’s unique creative genius, to his ability to turn Paris into the fashion capital of the world.”

 About Karl Lagerfeld Prize

Initially established in 2014, the award is open to fashion designers under the age of 40 who had sold at least two women’s or men’s ready-to-wear collections. The application process is entirely online.

The winner of the Karl award will go home with a cash prize of 300,000 euros and a one-year mentorship program provided by LVMH-led team to mentor the winner in critical areas such as marketing, sourcing, production, distribution, communication, image and intellectual property.

This year’s prize attracted more than 1,700 applicants from over 100 countries. The first edition of the Karl Prize is expected to be presented on Sept. 4 at the Fondation Louis Vuitton.

To show just how significant this early recognition has on budding fashion designers, Lagerfeld famously won an award from the International Wool Secretariat in 1954. Yves Saint Laurent won the same award too.

Past winners of the Special Prize had included Hood by Air’s Shayne Oliver, Simon Porte Jacquemus, Marine Serre and others. 

Renaming the Special Prize in honour of Lagerfeld is the latest move by the luxury brand to immortalize the iconic designer. Earlier, Fendi a part of the LVMH conglomerate dedicated its Fall 2019 couture show in Rome to him. The brand paraded 54 looks one for each year of his tenure where he had designed its furs and RTW since 1965. 

Karl Lagerfeld died this February aged 85 in Paris. He had worked in several luxury brands including Chanel, Chloe and Fendi, where he was the creative director until his death.