Wanda Nylon wins the Andam prize

The brand Wanda Nylon from designer Johanna Senyk, known for its translucent raincoats, was named Friday winner of the Andam Grand Prize, a competition that supports young French designers or those working in France.

The prize comes with an endowment of 250,000 euros (appr. $278,700). The winner will also be mentored by Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye, president of Chloé, for a period of two years.

The other finalists were the labels Aalto, Tim Coppens, Jacquemus, Koché and OAMC.

The French brand Wanda Nylon was launched in 2012 by 30-year-old Johanna Senyk and became popular for its waterproof translucent plastic and vinyl jackets.

The designer recently created a capsule collection for French retail mail order company La Redoute.

Senyk was also one of this year’s semi-finalists for the LVMH price, another springboard for young fashion designers, won by British designer Grace Wales Bonner.

Johanna Senyk “is focused on women who deserve notice and her designs always attract attention,” said Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye in a press release. “She is not afraid to experiment with new materials.”

Atlein was awarded the First Collections prize with a cash award of 100,000 euros, the label of French designer Antonin Tron, which will benefit from mentoring and guidance from a program sponsored by Galeries Lafayette.

The leather goods brand Tomasini Paris won the Accessories Design Prize (40,000 euros).

Andam (National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts), was founded in 1989 through an initiative of the French Ministry of Culture, and has anointed a number of designers who are meanwhile famous: the Belgian Martin Margiela, the Dutch duo Viktor & Rolf, the French Christophe Lemaire and Belgian Anthony Vaccarello, recently named creative director at Saint Laurent.

In 2015 the Grand Prize was awarded to the Pigalle label from Stéphane Ashpool.

In addition to Andam president, Pierre Bergé and Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye, the jury for the Andam 2016 comprised twenty leaders in fashion and luxury, including Emmanuelle Alt, the editor of Vogue Paris,  Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel fashion, and the CEO of Kering, François-Henri Pinault.