Six rising stars of Chinese fashion have been shortlisted for the final selection round of the $100,000 Business of Fashion China Prize to be announced during this month’s Shanghai Fashion Week.
The winner will be awarded BoF community mentorship and a show at London Fashion Week in September. The new award seeks to encourage Chinese designers who have long been in the shadows of international market players.
“There’s no denying the collective power, creativity and commercial ambition of this generation of Chinese designers,” says BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed.
“Not only are these young entrepreneurs aesthetically diverse, they’re also crafting distinctive brand identities with international appeal. All of these designers are potential stars.”
The six rising stars of Chinese fashion are:
Pronounce: Li Yushan and Zhou Jun, streetwear designers who split their time between MIlan and Shanghai.
Staffonly: Zhou Shimo and Une Yea, graduates of London College of Fashion and Royal College of Art, whose menswear label is based in Shanghai.
PH5: Lin Wei and Zhang Mijia, whose specialty is contemporary knitwear.
Shuting Qiu: Qiu Shuting, who is based in Belgium after graduating from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Art.
Caroline Hu: Caroline Hu, who graduated from Central Saint Martins last year and made her international debut at the recent New York Fashion Week.
Xu Zhi: Chen Xuzhi, another Central Saint Martins graduate, based in London.
China set to eclipse the US
This year, China is expected to overtake the US as the world’s largest fashion market.
“With our own growing BoF China team based in Shanghai, we’re in a unique position to help identify, nurture and elevate young designers with global potential,” added Amed. “We believe there’s both a growing need and an important opportunity to introduce emerging design talent from China to the wider fashion community around the world.”
The six designer finalists live and work in various locations worldwide. They will come together to present their collections at a showcase during Shanghai Fashion Week next month.
“Innovators can be found in every corner of the world, but people are noticing the businesses and creatives that are taking the lead in China,” said Lu Xiaolei, the vice secretary general of Shanghai Fashion Week. “It’s an extremely challenging but rewarding time to start a business, and events like the BoF China Summit play a vital role in fostering both entrepreneurial spirit and encouraging potential founders across global industries and ecosystems.”
You can read more about the BoF prize along with biographies of the six finalist labels here.