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Setchu’s Satoshi Kuwata is the winner of the 2023 LVMH Prize, earning a year of mentorship and a €400,000 cash prize.
The 39-year-old designer impressed the jury with his collection reflecting his multicultural path and experience in the industry. Born in Japan, he worked at Savile Row before studying at Central Saint Martins, and later worked for Givenchy and The North Face, all of which he says amount to a “360 design” perspective. “I have wanted to do my own label since I was a kid. That was a journey.” He created his brand in Milan in 2020. Setchu, which means “compromise”, sees its fashion as a bridge between Japan and the West. Sophie Brocart, Patou CEO and LVMH Prize mentoring director, praised the “cultural dimension” of the brand, and its the clever tailoring (Kuwata’s pattern-making skills are visible in the origami constructions of some of his garments and on his bias-cut dresses).
He received the award, presented by actor Gal Gadot, on stage at the Fondation Louis Vuitton on Wednesday. “I was really a naughty boy and my mum was worried about me and I can make my mum really happy,” he said when receiving the award. With the €400,000 grant, he plans to build his team, focus on his e-commerce website and launch sneakers, shoes, and handbags. “I used to design [accessories] a lot. I am good at it. I just needed money.” He doesn’t plan to stage a fashion show, saying he would prefer a more intimate event setting to show his collections. “We are in 2023. It’s time to change.”
The LVMH Prize was started in 2013 to award emerging designers. This year’s jury was made up of industry leaders Jonathan Anderson, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Nicolas Ghesquière, Marc Jacobs, Kim Jones, Stella McCartney, Delphine Arnault, Jean-Paul Claverie, Sidney Toledano, Nigo and Silvia Venturini Fendi.
Before awarding the winners, Delphine Arnault, CEO of Christian Dior Couture and the force behind the LVMH Prize, said: “The LVMH prize has grown a lot since 2013. It has distinguished 20 designers from all around the world. Today we are looking at the future. It’s my pleasure to announce that we have decided to increase the endowment to €400,000 [up from €300,000] for the winner of the LVMH Prize and €200,000 [up from €150,000] for the winners of the Karl Lagerfeld prize.”
“There’s inflation,” Toledano joked, before adding, “We are conscious of the means that [young designers] need.”
Kuwata joins past winners including SS Daley in 2022 and Nensi Dojaka in 2021. “We were all very seduced by the actual clothes itself, the savoir-faire, this concept of bringing his Japanese culture into European culture, combined with three years of incredible Savile Row training,” Marc Jacobs told Vogue Business about Kuwata. “The execution, the idea, everything was really perfect.”
“His philosophy is very precise. He worked in London, in Italy. It is evident that he mixes what he has learnt to create something completely new,” Dior artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri notes.
The Karl Lagerfeld prize, presented by Chinese star Xin Liu, went to Bettter’s Julie Pelipas and Magliano’s Luca Magliano. They will each receive a €200,000 cash prize and benefit from a year of mentoring. Other finalists this year were Aaron Esh, Burc Akyol, Diotima, Luar, Paolina Russo and Quira, out of more than 2,400 applications (up from 1,900 applications last year).
Bettter, which was created by Ukrainian designer Julie Pelipas in 2019, has upcycling at the core of its concept. “I love the work of Bettter. We know the concept of upcycling very well but I have never seen it executed in such a refined way,” Jacobs says.
Magliano from Bologna, who is 35, created his menswear brand in 2017. “I decided to stay in Bologna and am very loyal to this idea,” he says (he presents his collections in Milan.) The brand, which he describes as “twisted classics”, counts about 90 points of sale. His label generated revenue of €2 million last year and €2 million for the Autumn/Winter 2024 season alone. With the money, he wants to grow his team.
Jacobs, whom LVMH chief Bernard Arnault appointed creative director of Louis Vuitton in 1997 when he was 34, says: “LVMH of course has always championed young designers. I can say from personal experience, when I was barely known, Mr Arnault had faith in me and I think that the LVMH Prize just shows that LVMH has a commitment to seeking young talents, mentoring and nurturing young talents. It s an important prize with a lot of integrity.”
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