ANDAM FASHION AWARD FINALISTS

When it comes to major fashion organizations, America has the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and France has ANDAM.  ANDAM which stands for The Association Nationale pour le Developpement des Arts de la Mode  was created in 1989 by Nathalie DuFour. Backed by the French Ministry of Culture and DEFI, ANDAM works to support contemporary designers and help cement Paris’ place in the world as a fashion capital. Over the course of their 25 year existence ANDAM  has awarded designers with cash prizes to support their goals of growing their fashion businesses and creating future collections. Originally the awards focused on designers residing in Paris until 2005 when the competition was opened up to international fashion designers.  This past May, a panel of 25 judges announced the 2014 finalists. On July 3rd, the final winners will be announced.

Receiving an ANDAM award will be life-changing for the recipients. Why? As with any business, creating and maintaining a fashion label takes more than an idea and talent, it takes money. You can be the most talented designer in the world, but if you do not have the capital to make your designs a reality than it is very difficult to establish yourself in the industry.  The two recipients of this years’ fashion awards are in for a treat! With the help of their 13 partners, ANDAM has $445K (325K euros) to award.  The winner of the ANDAM Fashion Award will receive $342K (250K euros) and the winner of the ANDAM First Collection Prize will win $103K (75K euros).  Let’s take a look at the seven finalists for the ANDAM Fashion Award and the three finalists for the First Collection Prize:

ANDAM FASHION AWARD FINALISTS

In addition to winning an insane amount of money, the winner will receive mentorship for 2 consecutive seasons from Francois-Henri Pinaut, chairman and CEO of Kering, a collaboration with luxury online boutique thecorner.com, a pledge from Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Company to purchase their Spring/Summer 2015 collection and $10K worth of crystals from Swarovski.  All seven of the finalists will receive support from MAC Cosmetics, Fashion GPS, thecorner.com, & Swarovski.

ETUDES STUDIO

RAD HOURANI

JEAN-PAUL LESPAGNARD

FAUSTO PUGLISI

STEVEN TAI

IRIS VAN HERPEN

YIQING YIN

FIRST COLLECTION PRIZE

The winner receives an exclusive space at Haussman department store Galeries Lafayette for 2 consecutive season presentations and the use of Tomorrow London, Ltd showrooms.

COPERNI

GAUCHERE

MONOGRAPHIE

Who do you think will win?

*Photos provided by FashionGPS.com