THE AMIRI PRIZE WINNER FOR 2023 IS LUKHANYO MDINGI.
Roisin Breen's
Amiri has named Cape Town-based designer Lukhanyo Mdingi the winner of The Amiri Prize 2023. Founder Mike Amiri and a panel of modern visionaries and entrepreneurs chose him from a selection of nine contenders. The reward includes a year of mentoring from Mike Amiri personally, as well as a $100,000 USD grant, an incredible jump platform for a new designer working in today's competitive playing field. Mdingi was featured in Crash 97 The Situationist Issue in our roundup of emerging designer profiles. He struck out to us at the time for his magnificent creations and an attitude imbued with community empowerment and tradition.
The eponymous label's core has always been human relationships: from its founding in 2015, Mdingi has been quietly working toward developing a responsible brand that emphasizes laying solid foundations and incorporates community-driven design and production. Lukhanyo Mdingi collaborated closely with the CABES Community in Burkina Faso to immerse the label in the vibrant and collaborative weaving communities of Ouagadougou under the auspices of the Ethical Fashion Initiative. This program emphasizes the value of a collective: it extends to a deliberate and careful approach that is woven into each fabric, a lineage of rich tradition. Each collection is an homage to the integrity and authenticity of the craft's artist.
The AMIRI Prize was established in 2021 as a fashion prize and incubator to promote more diversity in the industry by spotlighting emerging talent in fashion and fashion-related professions. Mike Amiri established the award to honor the many voices impacting our future and to develop a support structure outside of the sometimes unreachable establishment.
Among the other designers chosen as finalists are:
El Tayeb Nation, Abdel El Tayeb
Dorian, Dorian, Dorian
WUMAN Ekwerike Chukwuma
Grace Ling, Grace Ling, Grace Ling
Advisry Keith Herron
8ON8 Li Gong
Lukhanyo Mdingi, Lukhanyo Mdingi, Lukhanyo Mdingi, Lukhanyo Mding
LUKEWARMPEOPLE is Luke Zhou and Mike Huang.
OnlyChild Maxwell Osborne
The following people were on the jury and selection panel:
KidSuper's Founder and Creative Director, Colm Dillane
Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Stylist and Editor
Image Architect, Law Roach
Stylist/Founder of theBallroom, Lucia Liu
June Ambrose is the Creative Director.
GQ China Editorial Director Rocco Liu
Designer Salehe Bembury
Founder and Creative Director of SR_A SR_A Ltd. & A-COLD-WALL*, Samuel Ross
GQ USA's Global Editorial Director, Will Welch