Setchu is the winner of the LVMH Prize 2023

This Wednesday, the victory of Setchu brand's founder Satoshi Kuwata was announced at the LVMH Young Designers ceremony. The jury was composed of established names from the industry such as Maria Grazia Chiuri, Kim Jones, Nicolas Ghesquière, Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs and Jonathan Anderson. In Paris, at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, Kuwata's victory was announced by Israeli actress, star of the film Wonder Woman (2017) Gal Gadot. The award will give the designer Kuwata access to a prize worth 400,000 euros and a one year coaching experience in the presence of some of the LVMH group's top luxury experts. The ceremony also offered a moment of recognition to Luca Magliano's eponymous brand, presenting the Italian designer with the Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize together with Ukrainian designer Julie Pelipas, an award presented by The9's leading pop-star, Xin Liu. The two young designers were awarded 200,000 euros and a one year mentorship program. 

Prior to Setchu, the brands that have been awarded during the ten editions of the LVMH Prize were S.S. Daley, Nensi Dojaka, Thebe Magugu, Marine Serre, Grace Wales Bonner, Marques' Almeida and Thomas Tait, counting also the participation of equally well-known names such as Rokh, Jacquemus and Hood by Air. Setchu was founded by Satoshi Kuwata based on the Japanese term WA-YO-SETCHU, a word that in architecture represents the perfect compromise between Japanese and Western styles. Although the success of Kuwata's brand began to achieve greater resonance in the summer of 2022, after winning the Who is on Next? competition, the Japanese designer's career began years earlier, in 2011, after he graduated in fashion design from Central Saint Martins in London. He worked alongside Kanye West, Gareth Pugh, in Givenchy's ateliers and then as design director for Edun in New York, and before launching Setchu in Milan, he served as creative director for Golden Goose Luxury Brands.

Kuwata's designs have always followed a sense marked by minimalism, dictated by a profound search for balance between silhouettes, colours and volumes. In addition to images of the designer's native culture - he often looks to Japanese sculpture, architecture, origami and ceramics - and that of the West, Setchu is also inspired by a historical concept of sustainability - one of his past collections was called Mottainai, meaning «What a waste!» - which has always been an integral part of Japan's heritage. Anchoring his practice in the past traditions of his country but shifting his gaze to the future and the technologies that govern it, Setchu's founder promises, through his designs, a compromise that goes beyond the cultural marriage of continents, offering anyone wearing his garments access to the fashion of the modern world while celebrating ancient craftsmanship in all its beauty.