Looks like luxury fashion houses already have a pool of talent to pull from for the next generation of creative directors. On Friday, the LVMH Prize announced the nine finalists for its 2026 competition, narrowed down from its list of 20 semifinalists (out of more than 2,400 applicants). This year’s finalists are: Colleen Allen (United States), Gabriel Figueiredo of De Pino (France), Galib Gassanoff of Institution (Georgia), Julie Kegels (Belgium), Zane Li of Lii (China), Petra Fagerström (Sweden), Harry Pontefract of Ponte (United Kingdom), Daniel del Valle Fernandez of The Vxlley (Spain) and Anil Padia of Yoshita 1967 (Kenya). On Sept. 4, they’ll present their collections to the Prize Jury at the Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris. Sitting on the jury are top names in the industry, including Jonathan Anderson, Sarah Burton, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Nicolas Ghesquière, Marc Jacobs, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, Phoebe Philo, Michael Rider and Pharrell Williams, among others. The LVMH Prize winner will take home a €400,000 endowment (approximately $468,000) and receive a one-year tailored mentorship by LVMH teams. Finalists also compete for the Karl Lagerfeld Prize and the Savoir-Faire Prize, which comes with a €200,000 endowment and a year-long mentorship at LVMH. Additionally, each winner will join the design studio of one of the LVMH Houses for one year and receive an extra €10,000, which will be given to the school from which they graduated.”This shortlist illustrates the Prize’s reach, with designers from the United States, Europe, China and, for the first time, Kenya. The finalists demonstrated a…
