Ifeanyi Okwuadi, first prize winner of the Hyères Fashion Festival

The 27-year-old British-born, Saville Row-trained designer Ifeanyi Okwuadi is in luck, as he has just won first prize at the 36th edition of the Hyéres fashion festival.

Held at the Robert Mallet-Stevens-designed Villa Noailles, located in the French town of Hyéres, and with sponsors such as Chanel Métiers d’Art, Chloé, Hermès, Kering, LVMH, Mercedes and Supima, I.O. won the prize that many emerging designers dream of, as it gives them an international reach that far eclipses the size of the event itself.

But this event to which we refer was not only composed of an awards ceremony, but Okwuadi, like the rest of the finalists, presented his collection to the jury, which was composed of designers of the stature of Louise Trotter, creative director of Lacoste, Christian Louboutin and the renowned fashion photographer, Dominique Issermann. On the other hand, and with regard to Ifeanyi’s collection, he presented a masculine proposal with certain military touches baptised “Take the Toys from the Boys”, in which he incorporated toy cars as brooches, or patches searched for on eBay, based on the sketches of the founder of the Scout Movement, Lord Robert Baden-Powell.