Anthony’s ANDAM Coup

Anthony Vaccarello A/W 11-12 by Morgan O'Donovan

>>  It was something of a certainty from my perspective but it was still a nail-biting experience waiting at the Ritz in Paris to see whether Anthony Vaccarello was able to take home the ANDAM prize.  The result was that I went home on my Eurostar train, thoroughly happy and satisfied.  I had to keep it hush hush until tonight when there will be the ANDAM reception at the French Ministry of Culture where Vaccarello will be officially announced as the ANDAM 2011 winner, bagging him EUR220,000.   As a French-speaking, Paris-based designer, some of the critics (a damning anonymous letter was circulated in the French letter last year) of ANDAM's prize recent year tendency to award 'foreign' designers will be pleased.  He's not exactly the French designer that those detractors are after, but Vaccarello, born of Brussels, of Italian descent and now based in Paris certainly goes some way to answering the question of whether Paris has a new gen of young designers.  Nationality and French allegiances aside, and without wanting to diminish the other nominees, Vaccarello of course deserves it after a few seasons of building up an impressive stockist list that includes colette, Browns, Joyce and Kirna Zabete and a press momentum that means next show with ANDAM's support will be even more explosive.

As a personal friend of Anthony's, it's hard not to be accused of bias but fortunately for me, he has the goods to back it all up so that my admiration for his work isn't born out of friendship.  His clothes embody a jagged jolt of sexiness that seems brave in a sea of brands that make make concession and compromise to the customer rather than boldly making their own statement.  It's of course an emotional experience to see someone first hand work so hard and be so dedicated to their craft to reap the rewards and in this case, a rather big one.  After staying a few days at his Marais studio, I can say that S/S 12 is looking pretty sublime and I look forward to the reaction to it all come October.  For now, it's congratulations and a huge sigh of relief all round…