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Hot off the heels of his Paris Fashion Week debut, Australian designer Christopher Esber has achieved another major milestone in not only being nominated for the prestigious ANDAM award but taking home the Grand Prize, which includes €300K and mentorship with Saint Laurent‘s Anthony Vaccarello.
Established in 1989 by Nathalie Dufour as a joint venture between the French Ministry of Culture and the Defi Mode fashion organisation, ANDAM award recipients include Martin Margiela, Christophe Lemaire, Jeremy Scott, Iris Van Herpen, and many other remarkable talents. This nomination saw Esber travel to Paris to sit in front of a jury at Saint Laurent headquarters—a panel of business and fashion luminaries that included Kering Founder and Chairman Francois-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH Group, CEOs of Balenciaga and Chloé, Executive VP of Hermès, President of Chanel’s fashion group, Instagram’s Director of Fashion Eva Chen, Emanuelle Alt, former first lady of France Carla Bruni, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Anthony Vaccarello.
As the first Australian to be nominated, Esber shared his excitement about the opportunity when he was first nominated.
“I am honoured to be a 2024 finalist in the prestigious ANDAM Award,” he said. “Being selected by such an inspiring jury, whose work I have long admired, is both humbling and rewarding. To be nominated at a time when the brand is firmly moving into its next era post our Paris Fashion Week debut last September feels symbolic, and I’m excited to continue building this next chapter.”
Christopher Esber made his case alongside labels 3.Paradis, which took the Special Prize with €100K, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Marie Adam-Leenaerdt, Meryll Rogge and Ruohan as contenders for the prize but ultimately came out on top, proving that Australia has never had such a stake in the global fashion game as it does right now.
According to the ANDAM council, Vaccarello will work with Esber and Emeric Tchatchoua of 3.Paradis on both the creative and strategic dimensions of their respective businesses to develop their label and strengthen their international presence.
Since launching his eponymous label in 2010 at the tender age of 23—and debuting at Australian Fashion Week that same year, no less—Christopher Esber’s brand has gone from strength to strength, capturing the eye of celebrities and fashion figures worldwide.
In 2012, he made his New York Fashion Week debut and received the L’Oreal National Designer Award before winning the regional Woolmark Prize the following year. He then went on to represent Australia at the International Woolmark prize in 2014 and was hand-selected as the recipient of Vogue Italia’s Most Talented Designer Award for Australia-Pacific. Last year, he also received the Australian Fashion Laureate award for Designer of the Year.
To round out an exponential few years of growth, both creatively and commercially, Christopher Esber was invited by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode to show on-schedule at Paris Fashion Week, following rigorous testing, in order to present his Spring/Summer 2024 collection on the official schedule alongside the world’s biggest fashion houses.
