Top image: Amiri FW20 / photography by Sara Cimino

LA brand Amiri has launched an annual award and fashion incubator initiative designed to provide a platform for undiscovered American fashion talent.

Titled The Amiri Prize, the award is founder and artistic director Mike Amiri’s way of establishing a support system outside of the current establishment, carving an inclusive route for those finding their feet within the industry – a path he knows well from his eponymous brand’s own story into the mainstream circuit. The prize is open to American residents only whose ready-to-wear business is between one and three years old, and the first prize winner will bag a sum of $100,000 and a year-long mentorship with Mike Amiri.

On the inaugural panel, experts include Mike, designer Glenn Martens, OTB president Renzo Rosso, stylist Karla Welch, Digital Director at Harper’s Bazaar Nikki Ogunnaike, owner of Spunge Salehe Bembury and owner of Union Los Angeles Chris Gibbs.

Applications are open now until 18th April – find more information here.