“Real Leather. Stay Different.” is a campaign launched by the Leather & Hide Council of America (LHCA) that celebrates all that is great about leather – sustainability, versatility, durability and beauty. Building on the success of similar competitions in Taiwan region, Italy and the United Kingdom, China mainland concluded its first design competition after an eight month delay due to the pandemic.
The competition, organised by LHCA in partnership with China Leather Industry Association (CLIA), attracted more than 400 entries from students at seven participating universities in Mainland China. The competition was sponsored by Xingye Leather Technology Co., Ltd. and Henan Prosper Skins & Leather Enterprise Co., Ltd.
A prestigious judging panel led by Zhenjun Yu, R&D manager of STACCATO of Belle International determined the winners. Fifty-four student designs were selected for gold, silver and bronze places in each of the three categories: Garments, Footwear, and Accessories. Gold winners for each category are listed below in the order of category, name, university and name of the product.
Garment: Yuying Gan, Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, Jeans Lee 101
Footwear: Zhen Wang, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Octopus
Accessories: Shanshan Yang, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Warm of Hugging
Yuzhong Li, Chairman of CLIA said: “The ‘Real Leather. Stay different’ design competition has fully inspired the young generation’s love for leather. The designs of the participants have demonstrated the insights and design concepts of young designers on leather. From them, we see the bright future of China’s leather and leather fashion market.”
Stephen Sothmann, President of Leather & Hide Council of America said: “I am strongly encouraged by the creativity and passion for leather the Chinese students demonstrated in our first-ever “Real Leather. Stay Different.” student design competition. We hope more students and young designers continue to use leather to promote its beauty, versatility and sustainability”.
An award ceremony will be held at Hebei Tanning Park in July 2021.
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