The coveted LVMH Young Fashion Designer Prize is up for grabs for eight designers, with this year’s finalists just announced and including black and African culture-inspired talent, Grace Wales Bonner.

The young designer has wowed critics with her aesthetic since debuting her graduate “Afrique” collection and winning the L’Oréal Professionnel Talent Award in 2014, going on to impress the industry with her follow up Autumn/Winter’15 “Ebonics” collection, and being invited to host an installation at the V&A as part of the venue’s Fashion in Motion programme.

Backstage at Grace Wales Bonner’s Autumn/Winter’16 “Spirituals” showcase

Now synonymous with notions of Afrofuturism and ’70s luxury, Ms Bonner is going for the LVMH Young Fashion Designer Prize – once in the sights of Nigerian designer Adebayo Oke Lawal of Orange Culture – having been shortlisted from 23 designers to join seven other finalists, including labels Aalto, Alyx, Brandon Maxwell, Koche, Vejask, Facetasm and Y Project.

The prize includes a 300,000 euro grant plus a year of mentoring from the industry’s top names – deciding judges including designers J.W Anderson, Nicolas Ghesquiere, Marc Jacobs, Humberto Leon, Carol Lim, Pheobe Philo and Riccardo Tisci.

A look at Grace’s LVMH Prize exhibit

The winner will be announced June 16h, and Team SPICE wish Grace Bonner the best of luck, having fallen for her collections so far and loving her love of black and African culture, plus luxury and fashion from the Motherland.

Image source: Lvmhprize.com, @Walesbonner