Belgian designer Anthony Vaccarello beat out Adam Kimmel, Commuun, Jeremy Laing, Matthew Harding and Yiqing Yin to become this years winner of the ANDAM prize. The 31 year old designer, based out of Paris, will receive a $282,000 prize purse as well as $14,100 worth of Swarovski crystals for his spring 2012 collection and mentorship from former Chloe CEO Ralph Toledano. Vaccarello was chosen by a 22-member jury that includes Emmanuelle Alt, Pierre Berge and Hilary Alexander and will be added to a prestigious list of recent ANDAM winners that include Giles Deacon, Gareth Pugh and Hakaan.
Vaccarello is no stranger to taking first prize, having already won the top honors at the Hyeres Festival. He studied for two years under Karl Lagerfeld at Fendi before launching his own label in 2008. When asked after the presentation what he plans on doing with the prize purse from ANDAM he said “I want to continue to grow, to become more grand. To produce more pieces, especially show pieces.” Asked if this would effect his upcoming show he indicated that it would not, saying “I like the idea of keeping it small, but maybe more light.” That last comment is probably a reference to his Fall presentation earlier this year that was criticized for being too dimly lit, though it did not stop his designs from turning heads.
Twenty-six-year-old designer Yiqing Yin, meanwhile was afforded the distinction of receiving ANDAM’s first ever Young Designer Prize complete with a smaller purse that totals just under $100,000. “I felt like the baby” she joked after the presentation. Though she better be anything but the baby, as she will be showing her first ever made-to-measure collection of haute couture next week and will be presenting a mere one hour before design icon Azzedine Alaia.
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