The Kooples Art Prize

Founded in 1969, The Kooples is a French fashion brand with a long-standing interest in contemporary culture. The brand commissioned Studio Marant to develop and direct The Kooples Art Prize : a programme supporting two emerging artists per edition through production funding, exhibitions and ongoing curatorial support.

The prize gives each artist visibility across two platforms: a solo carte blanche at The Kooples’ curatorial space on the Champs-Élysées, followed by a duo exhibition at MAC VAL. One work by each laureate also enters The Kooples Collection, creating a lasting link between the artists and the brand.

We developed the prize as a complete programme: jury and artist selection, curation, scenography, production, exhibitions. Built in collaboration with Artagon, which hosts a two-week residency at Maison Artagon. Emily Marant directs the programme alongside Marc Beyney-Sonier and Chloé Villefayot.

For the inaugural edition, we invited Thomas Conchou as guest curator and assembled a jury bringing together perspectives from Artagon, MAC VAL, MO.CO., Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles, MOSTYN in Wales and ENSBA Lyon. The first laureates were Gaby Sahhar and Kim Farkas.