China Institute Fashion Style Competition adds sustainability for 2020

Helping emerging designers and advertising creativity inspired simply by Chinese culture and aesthetics remained a priority even during a pandemic year. But, this season, China Institute’s Fashion Style Competition introduced a sustainability element of promote socially mindful and environmentally friendly fashion. Eight pupils or recent graduates, many who've already undertaken overseas journeys to arrive at this point participated in the runway function, defying the constraints of lockdowns and insufficient access to materials to make a capsule collection that harmoniously blended their Chinese roots with their unique world views.

The 2020 finalists were: Parsons grad Qizhen Han; Anqi Jiang, Beijing-born graduate of New York City’s FIT; Olivia Shen, American-born-Chinese artist hailing from both Michigan and Shanghai, their studies at Rhode Island Institution of Style; Ruohan Nie, born in Tianjin, who shifted to Paris to go after style, then relocated to New York City to attend Parsons; Francia Ramirez, knitwear consultant formerly from Mexico who spent a yr in Italy, currently in her final time at Fit in; Zineb Sabir al-Maslouhi who graduated from Casa Moda Academey in Morocco; Beijing-born Parsons grad Mianchen Wang, and Yaqi Zhang who's currently completing her BFA, likewise at Parsons.

Every year three rounds of analysis start with the judges’ overview of all applications that they select the top 25, which is then whittled right down to 10, each of whom are given a $300 stipend to create their collections. In the 3rd round, the decided on finalists present their just work at China Institute and a winner is chosen based on their creativity, top quality of execution, and efficiency in expressing the contest motif. This year’s judging panel contains Hazel Clark, Professor of Style Studies and Fashion Research at Parsons University of Design; Costs Donovan, manner illustrator, and Dior’s artist-in-home; Kyunghee Pyun, Associate Professor at FIT; and Mary Wang, manner writer and editor.

This year’s pre-recorded runway show presented three looks from each custom made and was accompanied by a zoom debate on this issue, “Chinese Fashion Goes Green: A Conversation with Fashion Leaders,” between Jinqing Cai, President of Kering Greater China, and Simon Collins, global style authority on sustainability, education and the Chinese market.

The winners were announced backwards order: Second runner-up, Francia Ramirez, who earned an internship with a not-yet disclosed custom made, impressed the judges with her commentary on the Silicon Valley of China which incorporated upcycled fabrics. First runner-up prize of 5000 us dollars was awarded to Yaqi Zhang whose minimalist collection interpreting pregnancy and postpartum wellness in a neutral palette used deadstock cloth sourced at Fabscrap. The earning prospect was fellow Parsons scholar Ruohan Nie whose collection predicated on her initially camping knowledge and involving zero-waste products patternmaking earned her 10,000 dollars and the following praise from judge Mary Wang: “What we really admired was the focus on detail to every part of the garment. The silhouettes had been deceptively simple nonetheless they had been expertly draped and customized. The textiles were sourced carefully, each representing their individual specific story, plus they came along in a lovely, coherent whole.”

Photographs by Nina Edwards. Collections in order of photographs by Qizhen Han, Anqi Jiang, Francia Ramirez, Yaqi Jiang and Ruohan Nie.