PARIS — 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.
Chavarria made a flamboyant debut in Paris during January’s men’s season, marking his 10th anniversary with a star-studded show with J Balvin, Becky G, Tokischa and Ozuna on the catwalk.
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.
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.
In recent years the slowdown in luxury spending and domino effect on retail have left many independent names on the brink.
“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. “The profiles selected also offer an interesting vision of the different economic models that can be invented to stand out and carve a space in a very competitive industry: B2C strategy, niche positioning and managed growth, innovative and ecologically commited.”
Jury president Sidney Toledano said the jurors had been “particularly impressed by the commitment and creativity” of the finalists.
“Their ability to present an innovative creative vision while addressing the concerns of our time is an encouraging sign for the future of fashion,” said the veteran fashion executive, who is president of the Institut Français de la Mode and senior adviser to LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton chairman and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault. “Each of them has the potential to continue supporting the ongoing transformations in our industry and to create a positive impact on both society and the planet.”
He encouraged finalists to seize the opportunities brought by their ANDAM experience.
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.
Additionally, finalists based in France have privileged access to the Institut Français de la Mode fashion school’s accelerator program, and financial advice from the Institute for the Financing of Cinema and the Cultural Industries, which supports cultural industries in France.
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.
ANDAM — the French acronym for National Association of the Development of the Fashion Arts — is supported by Balenciaga, Bureau Betak, Chanel, Chloé, Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent, Galeries Lafayette, Hermès, Kering, Lacoste, Longchamp, LVMH, L’Oréal Paris, Meta, Mytheresa, OTB, , Saint Laurent, Swarovski, Tomorrow, WSN and since this year, Ami Paris.
Executives from most sponsors are among the permanent members of the jury, whose 2025 guest members include Pascal Morand, executive president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, Sarah Andelman and fashion documentary director Loïc Prigent.
