Nensi Dojaka wins 2021 LVMH Prize

By

Olivier Guyot

Published
Sep 7, 2021

As South African designer Thebe Magugu, winner of the 2019 LVMH Prize, makes a splash in Paris as part of a Bon Marché campaign, the prestigious jury of the eighth edition of the competition dedicated to young fashion designers has chosen its winners for 2021. Of the nine designers who participated in this year's final, held on September 7 at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, awards went to Nensi Dojaka, Rui Zhou of Rui, Colm Dillane of Kidsuper, and Lukhanyo Mdingi.

Dojaka, a London-based Albanian womenswear designer, received the 2021 LVMH Prize from actress Isabelle Huppert and will also claim 300,000 euros in prize money, as well as a year of mentoring. 

Zhou, Dillane and Mdingi shared the Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize, which was created in honor of the designer and former jury member who passed away in February 2019, and which boasts a prize fund of 150,000 euros. 

This edition's finalists included British designer Bianca Saunders, France's Charles de Vilmorin, American Christopher John Rogers, Conner Ives, Kidsuper by Colm Dillane, Colombian designer Kika Vargas, South Africa's Lukhanyo Mdingi, Nensi Dojaka and Rui by Chinese designer Rui Zhou. 

Last year, due to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the jury was unable to decide between the eight finalists, who split the prize between them.