Lebanon-born Australian designer Christopher Esber was awarded the Andam Grand Prize during the Andam 2024 award ceremony held at Palais Royal Gardens in Paris.

The Australian designer received a prize money of €300 and a year of mentoring from Anthony Vaccarello, creative director of Saint Laurent and president of the jury of this year's edition.

This year, the jury’s special prize (€100,000) went to 3.Paradis, the label founded in 2013 by French designer Emeric Tchatchoua in Montreal. Pièces Uniques, a brand by French designer Edmond Luu, won the Pierre Bergé prize (€100,000), and Maeden, a leather goods label led by Dutch designer Christian Heikoop, won the fashion accessories prize (€100,000). The winner of the fifth edition of the Innovation Prize went to Pauline Weinmann, founder of Alternative Innovation.

Esber established his eponymous brand in 2010. Since founding his label in Sydney, Christopher Esber has built a global reputation for contemporary tailoring with a sophisticated approach, in the mixing of traditional techniques and mastering a restrained method for cut-out-clad silhouettes. The collections radiate confidence and strength reflecting an unwavering quality and innovation in cut and developed textiles; with a luxurious yet easy-to-wear approach. Being able to adapt clothing has always been core to Christopher Esber's collections, working with deconstructions of base silhouettes that can be personalized. Christopher’s vision of an idiosyncratic perspective on individuals through elegant minimalism and laid-back sensuality often plays with paradox and duality, but each collection further refines his desire to strip back the idea to the purest core of an idea.

Established in 1989 by Nathalie Dufour under the initiative of the Ministère de la Culture and the Defi and presided over by Pierre Bergé until 2017, and now by Guillaume Houzé, the Association Nationale pour le Développement des Arts de la Mode (Andam), focuses on finding young designers and helping them launch their fashion careers in France and abroad.

Photo: Christopher Esber. Courtesy Andam Fashion Awards