Botter Is Named as the 2022 ANDAM Fashion Award Winner

July 1, 2022

Words by The Folklore Team

Beating out six other finalists to do so, Dutch-Caribbean designer brand Botter was announced as the winner of the 2022 ANDAM Fashion Award, following a jury presentation of their collections by all the nominees at a ceremony at the Palais-Royal in Paris on Thursday June 30.

Helmed by creative directors and former Nina Ricci designers Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh, Botter describes itself as a Caribbean couture brand, taking inspiration from the duo’s heritage from Curaçao and the Dominican Republic, respectively. Specializing in gender-neutral clothing inspired by Caribbean culture, Botter has been recognized before for its colorful aesthetic and expressive style, having been nominated for the LVMH Prize for Young Designers in 2018.

As this year’s Prize winner, the Botter designers will be awarded with €300,000 and they already know what they’re going to do with their winnings – growing their small team and exploring sustainable textiles. “The brand is determined to create an impactful movement, where the world will benefit. By doing so we will commit to using innovative materials such as ocean waste plastic,” Botter says. The duo will also benefit from a year of mentoring with Chanel’s president Bruno Pavlovsky, who says that, “Our ambition is really to seek out the best in order to boost the prestige of both the ANDAM award and Paris and that necessarily leads us to be super international.”

Botter was chosen from a line-up of finalists that included South African designer Lukhanyo Mdingi, Peter Do, Robert Wun, Thomas Monet, Ottolinger and Heliot Emil, by a jury of fashion insiders fashion editor Giovanna Engelbert, Instagram’s head of partnerships Eva Chen, Kering chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault as well as ANDAM’s founder and managing director Nathalie Dufour.

ANDAM, which stands for National Association of the Development of the Fashion Arts, was created by Dufour in 1989 to promote the development of the French fashion industry by supporting emerging designers in their business operations.

Other prize winners at the ceremony include London-based womenswear brand Robert Wun, the recipient of the Special Prize award and €100,000 alongside Accessories winner Dolly Cohen and Bluemarble for the Pierre Bergé Prize.

The winners can hardly wait to get back to work. “It’s crazy, surreal, we’re walking on clouds!. We have so many great ideas – it’s time for change in fashion,” Herrebrugh says.