Maison Mode Méditerranée Announces Winners of Grand Prize for 2022-23 Year

Maison Mode Méditerranée (MMM), an esteemed fashion institution based in Marseille, has announced the winners of its highly anticipated grand prize for the upcoming 2022-23 year. The competition garnered an impressive 120 applications from 15 different countries across the Mediterranean region and French-speaking Africa. After careful deliberation, the grand prize was awarded to the talented French designer, Louis-Gabriel Nouchi.

Established by Maryline Bellieud-Vigouroux in 1998 and transformed into an endowment fund in June 2020, the Maison Mode Méditerranée Endowment Fund aims to provide support and promotion for fashion in the Mediterranean region. As part of its initiatives, the fund awarded scholarships in four distinct categories: “Global Fashion Brand,” “Craft & Care,” “Heritage & Give-back,” and “Scientific Research.” Additionally, two partner grants, the Tajima Fashion Tech Prize and the Fragonard Fashion, Heritage and Modernity Prize, were also presented.

Louis-Gabriel Nouchi, who previously won the OpenMyMed competition in 2018, emerged victorious in the “Global Fashion Brand” category, receiving a grand prize of 50,000 euros. Adding to his accolades, Nouchi also secured the prestigious Fragonard Prize, which includes an artist residency in Grasse that focuses on Provençal craftsmanship. Nouchi, a graduate of the renowned Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels de La Cambre in Brussels, launched his own menswear brand, LGN, in 2017.

In the “Craft & Care” category, the scholarship was bestowed upon Patchouli Studio, an innovative gender-fluid and artisanal brand founded by Italian designer Andrea Zanola. They were rewarded with a generous sum of 30,000 euros to further their creative journey. The “Heritage & Give-back” grant was awarded to the Itinérance collaboration between French designers Alexia Tronel and Caroline Perdrix, who drew inspiration from Moroccan cultural heritage for their outstanding collection. They were granted 20,000 euros to support their ongoing endeavors. Finally, Pierre-Jean Desemerie, a dedicated PhD student focusing on the study of colonial women’s clothing in Algeria, received the “Scientific Research” scholarship, which amounted to 20,000 euros.

The jury, comprised of esteemed figures in the fashion industry such as Farida Khelfa, Serge Carreira, Olivier Saillard, Françoise Montenay, and Dominique Jacomet, diligently evaluated the multitude of submissions and meticulously selected the worthy winners. The announcement of these exceptional talents epitomizes the incredible skill and boundless creativity that exists within the Mediterranean fashion scene. Furthermore, it underscores Maison Mode Méditerranée’s unwavering commitment to nurturing and supporting emerging designers within the region.