ANDAM Announces Its Winners and Kenzo Throws a BBQ

This year’s ANDAM winners were announced at a cocktail party in the courtyard of the Napoleon III-style Hôtel Le Marois, better known as the Salons France-Amériques, yesterday evening. "I’m a big fan of all the other finalists, it’s very moving. I just want to keep sharing my creations and positive vibes and put a little color in it all," the Grand Prix winner, Stéphane Ashpool of Pigalle, told Style.com. Shouting above the music, jury member Caroline de Maigret offered, "For me, Pigalle is really of the moment, it’s beyond the notion of seasons, and Stéphane has a relationship with craftsmanship—he sees his house like family." This is Charlotte Chesnais’ year, between a debut jewelry collection, her ANDAM win for the first-ever Accessories Prize, and a first child due imminently. "I’m trembling, my legs are shaking, the baby’s kicking, and I hope I won’t go into labor," she said. "I can’t have any champagne, but I hope everyone will for me." Ready-to-wear designer Léa Peckre picked up the First Collections Prize.

Among the crowd, a number of former honorees weighed in on how the ANDAM award has changed things for them. Iris van Herpen, last year’s big winner, noted that she’s now moving toward ready-to-wear and has a big project to be revealed in September, though she declined to provide details. "It’s been an accelerator in every possible way, but it’s also a lot like family," said Sébastien Meyer of the now-suspended Coperni Femme, which last year won for First Collections. Earlier this spring, Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant were named to the helm of Courrèges. "Every designer should have such an experience."

Meanwhile, over at the Jardin d’Acclimatation, in the shadow of the new Fondation Louis Vuitton, Kenzo creative directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon set up a summer picnic complete with tortilla truck, lounge chairs, and a "walk-in" outdoor premiere for Here Now, a six-minute film written and directed by Gregg Araki for the house. Orange and fuchsia movie-poster-style ads starring actress Jane Levy rounded out the concept. "We knew we wanted to do something different," said Lim. "It’s not runway, it’s a feeling. It’s really about going your own way."

"When Carol and I designed this collection, we were in the mind-set of an insular suburban community, and Gregg came to mind because his subculture was a huge influence on us growing up," explained Leon. "We wanted to twist the idea of what an ad campaign could be, and it gave him the chance to offer a taste of what happens after Nowhere, but in a supermodern, relevant way." Neither drama nor comedy, the film ventures into new territory for the director, who gave his cool, colorful characters co-optable one-liners like, "Can’t you be my glass-half-full kind of guy?" As it happens, the director was on hand and also the only guy in a suit. "I’m actually not a fashion person. I live in L.A., so I usually don’t put myself together, except for tonight thanks to Kenzo," he said. "Now I realize how much work goes into [fashion]. Actually, it is kind of like a film. That natural affinity made it a fun fit."

Post-screening, Rufus Wainwright commented, "Music, film, fashion, and art are really converging. It’s really inspiring in terms of what I’m doing." Turns out the performer is polishing up Prima Donna, an opera he composed, and an accompanying film directed by Francesco Vezzoli starring Cindy Sherman, who dons archival costumes once worn by Maria Callas for the role. "It’s a day in the life of an opera singer, based on Callas and other great divas—nothing to do with me," cracked Wainwright. That premiere will happen at the Acropolis in Greece in September.

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