Young Designers Vie For LVMH Prize

GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT: Anton Belinskiy’s sweater said it all: “Poor But Cool.” He’s one of 26 young designers who displayed their wares at the headquarters of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton on Wednesday night, all vying for a cash prize of 300,000 euros, or $335,560 at current exchange, plus a year of coaching from the luxury group. There was a mood of camaraderie among the designers, despite the walls separating their stands and all the jockeying for attention as members from the expert panel, who must whittle down the crop to eight finalists, toured the room along with top LVMH brass. “It’s really exciting to see all these great talents here, and to see all the energy,” said Delphine Arnault, executive vice president of Louis Vuitton and the woman who conceived the prize as a powerful talent scout and advocate for young designers at the luxury giant her family controls. “It’s already great for them and I hope it’ll help their careers.” The 45 experts have two days to inspect collections and meet designers before casting their vote. Finalists are to face a jury whose members include Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, Nicolas Ghesquière, Raf Simons, Phoebe Philo, Riccardo Tisci, Jonathan Anderson and

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