The SFDA Creative Talent Program announced on Friday the finalists of the inaugural New Wave Fashion Awards.
SFDA unveils finalists for inaugural New Wave Fashion Awards. – SFDA
After three months of open submissions and professional review, six finalists were selected: Chen Sifan by Sifan Chen, Angus Chiang by Angus Chiang, Moto Guo by Moto Guo and Kinder Huang, 8ON8 by Li Gong, Mayali by Maya Li, and Feng Chen Wang by Feng Chen Wang.
Conceived as a long-term talent incubation initiative rather than a one-off competition, the New Wave Fashion Awards positions itself as a platform for identifying and cultivating designers with multi-dimensional capabilities spanning product, aesthetics, narrative, and brand structure.
The framework is designed to mirror the responsibilities of a modern creative director, offering an alternative to traditional fashion awards that focus primarily on runway collections.
“We launched this creative talent support program to build a long-term, systematic, and future-oriented training mechanism to help China’s new generation of creative talents achieve leaps in continuous practice and move towards a clearer and more internationally-oriented development direction,” said Madame LV, EVP of SFDA and secretary-general of Shanghai Fashion Week Organizing Committee.
The New Wave Fashion Awards will culminate during AW26 Shanghai Fashion Week in late March. The six shortlisted designers will present comprehensive brand expressions on site, translating their concepts into immersive spatial experiences.
These presentations will be evaluated by a jury with international perspective and industry authority, drawing from global fashion media, retail and brand operations, as well as the public.
