Frans
Molenaar
Prize 2025
On Wednesday December 3rd 2025, the Frans Molenaar Prize was presented again, after an eight-year hiatus, to a recently graduated emerging fashion talent with ambitions to launch their own label.
During the 2025 Frans Molenaar Prize ceremony, seven nominated fashion designers showcased their work in a catwalk show that also featured a selection of Frans Molenaar's designs in an innovative way. The nominated designers were selected in collaboration with Dutch fashion academies by a jury composed of previous Frans Molenaar Award winners.
The winners
Designers Ülkühan Akgül and Batuhan Demir of the combined label ULKUHAN&BATUHAN won the €10,000 prize for their innovative designs that merge fashion, performance, and social research.
Both designers graduated in 2023, Akgül from AMFI and Demir from ArtEZ. With the prize money, Akgül and Demir plan to further develop their label, deepen their material research, and continue designing with social awareness and intention.
They aim to present new, experimental fashion presentations on international fashion and art platforms and are working towards their debut at Amsterdam Fashion Week in 2026, where they will present their first collection.
Frans Molenaar
Frans Molenaar (1940-2015), "the fashion king of the Netherlands," as the couturier jokingly called himself, established the €10,000 prize in 1996 and funded it himself. Frans understood better than anyone how important encouragement and support are at the start of a designer's career. In 2025, the Frans Molenaar Prize was awarded for the 23rd time.
The 2025 Frans Molenaar Prize was organized by the Frans Molenaar Foundation in collaboration with The New Mode Collective.
Photo: Erwin Olaf
Jury 2025
Previous recipients