Finalists for the 2025 ANDAM Fashion Awards Announced – WWD
Tue 27 May
By Lily Templeton | Photography Courtesy of ANDAM
With Willy Chavarria, Alain Paul and Zomer among the five finalists of its grand prize, the 2025 ANDAM Fashion Award is cementing its position as a rite of passage for those making a mark on the French capital’s fashion scene. Rounding out the selection are two names that will be as familiar to the Paris Fashion Week crowd as they are to those who follow the annual talent showcase: Belgian designer Meryll Rogge, who was a finalist last year, and EgonLab, which won the Pierre Bergé Prize in 2021. They were among the 11 finalists who emerged from some 400 applications across all prizes.
Competing for this year’s Pierre Bergé Prize, which focuses on young French companies and comes with a 100,000-euro purse, are designer Burc Akyol, genderless and sustainable fashion label Jeanne Friot and Mouty, a five-year-old menswear brand founded by couple Bertille and Thomas Mouty.
In the accessories category, three brands are vying for the 100,000 euro award. They are Paris-based footwear label Phileo, a regular Comme des Garçons collaborator; Paris-based jewelry brand Panconesi by Italian designer Marco Panconesi, who moonlights as design director at Swarovski, and Sarahlevy by Belgian designer Sarah Levy, best-known for avant-garde designs that netterd her the public vote at the 2019 Hyères festival and the inaugural accessories prize at the Belgian Fashion Awards in 2022.
"Tomorrow will help [the Finalists] optimize their merchandising, sales and financial strategies."
Lily Templeton, WWD
For Nathalie Dufour, ANDAM’s founder and managing director, this mix of new names and former finalists among the 11 competing for the three main prizes is a reflection of the industry’s momentum but also of the challenges faced by emerging brands. “Whatever their level of development, whether nascent or more established brands, the need for liquidities is a fundamental topic to ensure their perenity,” Dufour told WWD.
Even before winners will walk away with their six-figure financial grants, mentorships and a Swarovski trophy designed by Alexandre Mattiussi, mentor of the Pierre Bergé Prize and 2015 ANDAM Grand Prize winner, the finalists can avail themselves of a broad-reaching support program. The 11 finalists will have access to deadstock materials provided by Balenciaga and Longchamp, and they also can enjoy privileged access to Swarovski’s showroom to discover the creative possibilities of crystal. Meanwhile, OTB will run a workshop on best practices in sustainable design; Mytheresa will offer a session with its digital leadership team, and Tomorrow will help them optimize their merchandising, sales and financial strategies.
Created in 1989 by Dufour, with the support of the French Ministry of Culture and the DEFI, a body that promotes the development of the French fashion industry, and with the late Pierre Bergé as president, ANDAM has been a springboard for designers who have gone on to achieve international recognition. Past winners include Viktor&Rolf, Christophe Lemaire, Jeremy Scott and Marine Serre. French designer Louis-Gabriel Nouchi scooped the 2023 prize, with Ester Manas and Duran Lantink both receiving the runner-up Special Prize.