Wanda Nylon wins ANDAM Grand Prize

Designer Johanna Senyk’s Wanda Nylon, which started off as a rainwear
brand before expanding into a full ready-to-wear line, has been named the
winner of the ANDAM Grand Prize, a competition that supports emerging
labels showcasing in Paris.

As well as following in the footsteps of Martin Margiela, Viktor and
Rolf, Jeremy Scott and British designer Gareth Pugh, who have all won the
prestigious Grand Prize, Senyk’s wins a prize fund of 250,000 euros to help
grow her business, plus two years of mentoring from Geoffroy de la
Bourdonnaye, president and chief executive officer of Chloé.

Senyk’s Wanda Nylon, which launched in 2012, scooped the top honours
ahead of finalists Aalto, Tim Coppens, Jacquemus, Koché and OAMC. 2016, has
been a breakthrough year for the designer as she was also shortlisted for
the LVMH Prize.

A video posted by ANDAM Fashion Award (@andamfashionaward) on Jul 3, 2016 at 3:44am PDT

Commenting on Senyk’s win, De la Bourdonnaye said the designer was
“focused on women who deserve notice and her designs always attract
attention,” and that the French designer was “not afraid to experiment with
new materials.”

ANDAM names 2016 winners

ANDAM also awarded the First Collections prize to Atlein, a label
launched this year by French designer Antonin Tron, a graduate of The Royal
Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp who has been working in Balenciaga’s
studio. He wins a cash prize of 100,000 euros, as well as mentoring and
guidance from a programme sponsored by Galeries Lafayette.

Tron scooped the honour ahead of finalists Harmony Paris and Japanese
designer Kenta Matsushige.

The Accessories Design Prize, worth 40,000 euros was awarded to leather
goods brand Tomasini Paris, launched in 2015 by Emanuel Tomasini, former
communications director at Giuseppe Zanotti.

This year’s winners were selected by a 25-member jury composed of
fashion executives, editors, actresses and models, including Pierre Bergé,
Bruno Pavlovsky of Chanel, Pamela Golbin, and Nadja Swarovski.

ANDAM, the National Association for the Development of Fashion Artists,
was founded in 1989 through an initiative of the French Ministry of
Culture. It’s annual competition, now in its 27th year, has become one of
the fashion industry’s longest-running competitions for fashion design. In
2015, the Grand Prize was awarded to the Pigalle label from Stéphane
Ashpool.

A photo posted by ANDAM Fashion Award (@andamfashionaward) on Jul 1, 2016 at 12:12pm PDT

Images: Andam website