How’s your day been? Good? Great? Well, it’s probably nothing on Nensi Dojaka’s. That’s because the London-based designer just bagged one of fashion’s most coveted gongs — the LVMH Prize.
Known for her sinuous, body-conscious pieces that strike a balance between delicacy and strength, she follows in the footsteps of designers like Grace Wales Bonner, Marine Serre and Thebe Magugu in winning the prestigious competition’s top award. As a result, she’ll be taking home a €300k cash boost to her business and access to mentorship from some of the luxury conglomerate’s top experts.
When you consider the line-up that made this year’s finale, the Fashion East alumna’s victory is only made more impressive. This year, the judging panel — which includes Marc Jacobs, Virgil Abloh and Kim Jones among them — were so bowled over by the calibre of the finalists that there were nine of them as opposed to the usual eight.
Nensi was not, however, the only one among this year’s cohort to win big. While usually one other designer is awarded the Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize, this year, the €150k award was awarded to three: Rui Zhou of Rui, Colm Dillane of KidSuper, and Lukhanyo Mdingi.
Based between the UK, China, the US and South Africa, this year’s group of winner’s is easily the most international we’ve seen yet. It is, however, a moment of particular pride for the London fashion community, reinforcing its reputation as an international hub of emerging fashion talent, even in the face of Brexit woes and increasingly conservative migration laws.
Those eager to see what comes next for the winning designer needn’t wait too long — she’ll be presenting her first solo runway show on the London Fashion Week schedule next week. We’re more than sure it’ll be worthy of today’s victory, and then some. Congrats, Nensi! Pop a bottle on us xo