Cédric Charbit named as mentor of 31st edition of ANDAM

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Jan 29, 2020

As applications open for its 31st edition, ANDAM (France's Association Nationale pour le Développement des Arts de la Mode) has announced that Cédric Charbit, CEO of Balenciaga and member of Kering's executive committee, is the competition's new designated mentor. Balenciaga, which has achieved popularity and success under creative director Demna Gvasalia, recently announced its return to Haute Couture. 

Charbit succeeds Renzo Rosso in the role of ANDAM mentor. Last year, the founder and president of Italian fashion group OTB (owner of Diesel and Maison Margiela, among others) awarded the prize to Christelle Kocher, founder and designer of ready-to-wear brand Koché. Global production and distribution of her brand have since been licensed to OTB. 

Founded in 1989 by Nathalie Dufour, with the support of France's Ministry of Culture and Communication, and the DEFI, the fashion competition dedicated to young design will also welcome two new sponsors this year: L'Oréal Paris – already an official partner of Paris Fashion Week – and Google France. 

The pair join Chanel, Chloé, the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent, Galeries Lafayette, Hermès, Kering, Lacoste, Longchamp, LVMH, OTB, Saint Laurent, Swarovski, Tomorrow London Holdings, design and manufacturing group OBO, and trade show organisers Première Classe.

As in previous editions, ANDAM 2020 will award four prizes: the grand prize, worth 250,000 euros; the Pierre Bergé prize, which replaces the creative label prize (100,000 euros); the fashion accessories prize (50,000 euros); and the innovation prize, which was introduced in 2017 and is also worth 50,000 euros. 

The competition will therefore award a total of 450,000 euros this year. Winning brands will also take part in a mentoring programme offered by ANDAM's sponsors. Applications close on 27 April and the list of finalists will be revealed in May, while the competition's winners will be announced on 2 July 2020. 

As well as Koché, which received the grand prize at the competition's 30th edition, ANDAM awarded the Pierre Bergé prize to French designer Nicolas Lecourt Mansion in 2019, while the accessories prize went to Khaore, an ethical, New York-based brand founded in 2017 by Wei Hung Chen and Raiheth Rawla. The innovation prize was won by British business Worn Again Technologies.