Steve O Smith Wins LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize, Fuses Drawing and Fashion

British designer Steve O Smith, winner of the €200,000 LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize in September 2025, creates garments that are literal three-dimensional drawings. Based on his original sketches, his clothes use fabric like charcoal, with tulle strokes built up in layers. Smith, who graduated from Central Saint Martins' MA in 2022, launched his label SOS in London in 2017 before shuttering it and returning to study. His process emerged during COVID isolation when he could not get fabric, leading him to cut offcuts into marks resembling paper strokes. His work is entirely made to order from his east London studio. His next collection, shown in February, introduces color for the first time, referencing Otto Dix, George Grosz, and Edward Burra, with motifs like knotted pink bows and vintage glass bugle beads. Smith describes himself as "very dyslexic" and credits his grandmother, a dressmaker, as an early influence. He studied at Rhode Island School of Design for his BA.