Sometimes, Cool Clothes Win
2025 LVMH Prize winner Soshiotsuki is perhaps the most exciting label to snag the award since Doublet won in 2018. Here is a label that epitomizes distinctly cool clothes, clothes so cool that they are now award-winningly cool.
Not to be dismissive of the other finalists, of course, who're all young designers that deserve the boost in attention likely to come from the LVMH Prize halo effect. But Soshiotsuki is just so darn good that it merits special notice.
Founded in 2015 by Soshi Otsuki, Soshiotsuki has been patiently plugging away in Japan for a decade. If you keep your ear to the ground about this sort of thing, you're well aware of its signature cutaway blazers and knife-pleat pants which are already sold by handfuls of well-curated domestic boutiques.
These are clothes worn and appreciated by people who wear and appreciate clothes. And clothes this covetable only rarely play in the fashion big-leagues, where industry success is has long been dictated by faddish fancy and insider politicking.
So, it's a pleasant surprise that the 2025 LVMH Prize jury, which included Jonathan Anderson, Phoebe Philo, NIGO, and Pharrell, recognized enough of the revisionary genius behind Soshiotsuki's tailoring to give it the win.
Perhaps these garments, elevated beyond the ordinary but grounded enough for the everyday, came off as novel, despite the fact that Otsuki has honed his vision over many seasons. One glance at the razor-sharp seasonal imagery that dots the Soshiotsuki Instagram page ought to be evidence of that.
Otsuki always had the eye, though, so much so that Soshiotsuki was actually shortlisted for the 2016 LVMH Prize, though it didn't proceed to the finals.
You could argue that this is why local fashion competitions in fashion capitols, like the Fashion Prize of Tokyo — which has since awarded AURALEE, super-suave ssstein, and soon-to-be-huge YOKE — are often more reliable bellwethers of what's up next.
But if Soshiotsuki's LVMH Prize win is proof of the tide turning in favor of stylish substance, however, it's possible that fashion at large is finally recognizing the obvious appeal of obviously good clothes. Anything's possible.
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