(L-R) Designs created by: Hood by Air, Julian Dossena, Tim Coppens

(Relaxnews) - Representing global talents, the finalists for the inaugural LVMH prize have been revealed, and the 12 designers hail from Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, India, Russia, and the United States.

The selection, made by a panel of 42 fashion experts, seems to have found a good balance between the traditional fashion capitals and a couple of designers based in cities with more emerging fashion scenes. 

The finalists will return to Paris on May 28 to face the final judging panel which is composed of some of the biggest, most intimidating, names in fashion. Made up from LVMH's top creative directors, the jury includes Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld, and Phoebe Philo, among others, and is sure to be a challenging final test.

The eventual winner will take home €300,000 for their business and receive top-level assistance from LVMH's industry experts.

Here's the full list of finalists: 

• Atto (Julien Dossena, French, based in Paris)
• CG (Chris Gelinas, Canadian, based in New York)
• Gabriele Colangelo (Gabriele Colangelo, Italian, based in Milan)
• Hood By Air (Shayne Olivier, American, based in New York)
• Jacquemus (Simon Porte Jacquemus, French, based in Paris)
• Miuniku (Tina and Nikita Sutradhar, Indian, based in Mumbaï)
• Simone Rocha (Simone Rocha, Irish, based in London)
• Suno (Erin Beatty and Max Osterweis, American, based in New York)
• Thomas Tait (Thomas Tait, Canadian, based in London)
• Tillmann Lauterbach (Tillmann Lauterbach, German, based in Paris)
• Tim Coppens (Tim Coppens, Belgian, based in New York)
• Vika Gazinskaya (Vika Gazinskaya, Russian, based in Moscow)

The top 12 finalists of the LVMH prize

(Source and Photos: AFP Relaxnews, LVMH prize)

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