Julie Kegels Wins the LVMH Prize

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Belgian designer Julie Kegels, known for her deconstructed designs exploring the many contradictions of femininity, has won the 2026 LVMH Prize, presented by Jennifer Lawrence in Paris today. Runners-up include New York's Zane Li of Lii, who won the Karl Lagerfeld Prize (presented by Priyanka Chopra Jonas) and Yoshita 1967, designed by Anil Padia, the first Kenyan finalist (presented by Thai actor and model Urassaya Sperbund).

The winners were selected from a pool of nine finalists by a high-profile jury including Jonathan Anderson, Sarah Burton, and Phoebe Philo.

Kegels launched her namesake womenswear brand out of Antwerp in 2024 after graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Her designs challenge the contemporary idea of luxury by subverting archetypal clothing. Her most recent collection for fall 2026 explored feminine auras and the idea of perception by creating the appearance of shadows via silhouette manipulation, unconventional layering, and fabric prints.

But despite their rather avant-garde context, her designs remain wearable. "You can always talk and explain your work, but at the end of the day, it's about the clothes," Kegels said via video call just following the presentation of the award. "There is always a story around it, but I really think it also doesn't have to be too complicated. It just has to have a detail that affects you."

LVMH launched the Prize for Young Fashion Designers in 2013 to nurture a new generation of creative talent. Prior recipients include Soshi Otsuki , Grace Wales Bonner, Marine Serre, and Nensi Dojaka. The winner of the LVMH Prize receives an endowment of €400,000 and is paired with a team of LVMH experts for a one-year mentorship. The Karl Lagerfeld and Savoir-Faire Prizes each award their winners a €200,000 allocation and a one-year mentorship, as well.

Chatting with the three recipients this morning, I was reminded just how hard it is to have a brand in 2026. Kegels made sure to thank the "young passionate people who put way more time and energy into the projects we're doing together than the brand can actually afford." None of the designers are hoping to grow too fast, but each noted that the first thing they would do with the endowment would be to expand their team (Li is the only full-time employee at Lii) and focus on infrastructure.

Chinese-born Li founded Lii out of New York in 2023 after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology and has developed an industry following for his deconstructionist approach to clashing ideas of athletic wear with elegance. "I feel like being a designer right now is more than just making clothes," he said. "It's more than a sewer, it's more than a pattern maker. You need to be a publicist. A content creator. A graphic designer."

Based between Nairobi and Paris, Anil Padia founded Yoshita 1967 in 2024 out of a desire to preserve and reimagine the cultural heritage of craft. "In 2026, I think it's about authenticity," he said. His collections full of crochet, embroidery, and embellishment are entirely handmade in Kenya by female artisans. "There's so much happening out there, so it's quite gratifying to do something very personal." And that seems to be the throughline that resonated with this year's panel of judges.

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