Meryll Rogge Is The 2025 ANDAM Fashion Award Winner

This article has been updated on June 30 at 5:17 p.m. EST.

PARIS — Second time was the charm for Meryll Rogge, who scooped up the Grand Prize of the 2025 ANDAM Fashion Award on Monday.

“Honestly, we just said it like it is, I didn’t really change much versus last year,” said the Belgian designer. “I think we just evolved and grew a lot in the last year.”

And what a 12-month run it’s been for the Ghent, Belgium-born designer who was a finalist of last year’s ANDAM.

In addition to becoming the first woman to be named designer of the year at the 2024 Belgian Fashion Awards and being a 2025 Woolmark Prize finalist, she saw her designs land on the likes of Dua Lipa, Chloé Sévigny and Rihanna.

Having shown her collections in Paris since 2021 in presentations, she held her first fashion show in March, presenting a collection she deemed her “most developed pieces.” These were among the designs she showed to the ANDAM jury earlier in the day.

Not that she is letting it get to her head. “It just shows that we are stepping it up every year,” she said. “And now we’re going to be able to make huge leaps, of course.”

A 2008 graduate of Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts who dreamed of being an illustrator as a child, she swapped paint for textile swatches when moving to New York. After working her way up to lead designer at Marc Jacobs over seven years, she was back in Antwerp working for Dries Van Noten as head of women’s design in 2014 before going solo in 2020.

Several of her pieces have been acquired recently by MoMu Antwerp and Brussels’ Fashion & Lace Museum.

How she plans on spending the 300,000-euro purse that comes with this win is “very clear for us,” Rogge said.

One priority is direct-to-consumer channels, particularly e-commerce, a yet-untapped opportunity for her business.

“It’s a big one for us because we do get a lot of views on our website, lots of DMs and we can never support it, which is a shame,” she said.

The 41-year-old is also looking at expanding in accessories. “We dabbled in shoes, working on a collaboration with [Japanese footwear brand] Grounds and we want to go further,” she said.

In addition to the cash award, she will be mentored by 36th jury president Sidney Toledano, an adviser to LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton chairman and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault, as well as president of the Institut Français de la Mode fashion school.

The seasoned executive will also have another mentee: Special Prize winner Alain Paul, who parlayed a 10-year career working for the likes of Vetements and Louis Vuitton into his eponymous Alainpaul brand, cofounded in 2023 with husband Luis Philippe.

Here too, being plugged in directly to consumers is a must. It’s a particularly important avenue for emerging brands for the revenue it generates, but also for the direct consumer insights.

“It really allows us to work on a collection plan that meets what clients are looking for and not waste so much time on pieces we don’t need,” Philippe said.

Summer will therefore be busy for the brand, as plans for e-commerce that previously were on hold due to the costs involved can now move forward as early as September, the cofounders said.

And Paul is also among the finalists of the 2025 LVMH Prize for Young Designers.

The Pierre Bergé Prize and its 100,000-euro purse went to Burç Akyol, whose eponymous genderless label marries sexiness with austerity — and flawless tailoring.

He will be mentored by Alexandre Mattiuissi, the founder and artistic director of Ami who scooped up the grand prize in 2013. The brand came on board as a sponsor of the design competition with this edition.

“You never expect it,” said an elated Akyol. “I talked about the importance of craftsmanship and it resonated. We tend to forget the product in our industry today, and people think it’s borderline ugly to say the word ‘product,’ but I disagree. I think it’s at the heart of what we do and I’m happy, because that’s what I stand for. I won with that.”

The designer said he looked forward to getting advice from Mattiussi, who has parlayed his independent brand into a thriving business.

“I want to find out how he did it, because it’s an empire. I remember when Ami was founded. His initial inspiration was so organic. He wanted to dress a few friends that inspired him and make that available for others,” Akyol said. “It’s a great financial success, which again comforts me in the idea that there is a place for product.”

He plans to use the prize money to fund his next collection for the label, which is a two-person operation.

“At our level, we have a knife at our throat every season,” Akyol said. “I always have to juggle in terms of cash flow. Now, we will finally be able to develop these categories that we’re always thinking about and don’t have the time to do, because you need real industrial know-how.”

Also in the running in this category dedicated to emerging creative labels were Jeanne Friot and Mouty by couple Bertille and Thomas Mouty.

Belgian designer Sarah Lévy of Sarahlevy beat out footwear designer Philéo Landowski and jeweler Marco Panconesi to win the 2025 accessories prize, which comes with 100,000 euros and purse and mentoring by Sophie Delafontaine, creative director of Longchamp.

Toledano said he’s had eyes on all the winners through the tentacular reach of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. He met Rogge when she worked at Marc Jacobs, which belongs to the luxury group, while Lévy designs accessories for Patou, another one of its labels.

Meanwhile, he first discovered Paul and Akyol’s work through the LVMH Prize for Young Designers. Akyol was a finalist last year, while Paul is among the final eight this year.

“These four winners are exactly the type of candidate that need our help because they have reached a critical size. They’re doing fine on their own, but they really want to take their brands to the next level and I want to help them do that,” he said.

This year, the innovation prize was awarded separately in May and went to Losanje, a fashion tech company based in the central French city of Nevers that is helping brands implement the use of circular textiles.

The edition’s jury included 11 guest members, including Pascal Morand, executive president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, Sarah Andelman and fashion documentary director Loïc Prigent.

Joining them were multihyphenate actress and author Lou Doillon; Lucky Love, the singer who performed at the opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games; musical artist Eddy de Pretto; art gallery founder Emmanuel Perrotin, and model, actress and entrepreneur Liya Kebede.

Rounding out the 2025 group sitting alongside permanent members, who are mainly executives drawn from sponsors, were creative consultant Carlos Nazario; writer and fashion critic Sophie Fontanel, and Beka Gvishiani, who’s behind the Stylenotcom Instagram account.

Created in 1989 by Nathalie Dufour with the support of the French Ministry of Culture and the DEFI, a body that promotes the development of the French fashion industry, and with the late Pierre Bergé as president, ANDAM has been a springboard for designers who would go on to achieve international recognition.

In October, a retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs gave an overview of the ANDAM’s 35-year run, featuring works by winners across fashion and accessories including Viktor & Rolf, Jeremy Scott, Marine Serre, Y/Project, Christopher Esber and Ukrainian milliner Ruslan Baginskiy.

– With contributions from Joelle Diderich