YOUTOPIA’s 2026 Fashion Final brought eight emerging Chinese designers to the Shanghai runway on 14 October during LABELHOOD’s 22nd fashion and arts festival. Working to the theme “万物生灵”, broadly translated as “all living beings”, the finalists presented collections before a professional jury and public vote. Zhangchong Feng received both “YOUTOPIA Star of the Year” and “YOUTOPIA Spotlight”, while Zixin Wang won the “JORDAN × YOUTOPIA Special Award”.
The final combined industry recognition with mentorship, brand collaborations and business development support. Jordan joined LABELHOOD in launching a “Remake” creative collaboration, building on the platform’s history of student projects involving reconstruction and material reuse. The Shanghai Fashion Designers Association provided professional support through mentorship, industry connections and exposure, while Moncler continued to provide prizes for two awards. Douyin served as the exclusive platform partner, with content performance also contributing to the Spotlight award selection.
For the overall winner, that support extends into JING’AN FASHION RESIDENCY’s incubation programme, which offers workspace, professional guidance, presentation opportunities, industry exchange and brand development assistance. These resources address a critical stage in an emerging designer’s career: translating a collection into a viable business, with access to the expertise and commercial relationships needed to develop it.
Bringing Reuse Into Design Practice
Founded in Shanghai in late 2015 and formally incorporated into LABELHOOD’s organisation in 2018, YOUTOPIA has grown from a student fashion show into an incubation platform spanning fashion, photography, accessories, makeup artistry and display design. Its combination of mentorship, creative practice and brand collaborations connects campus communities with the industry, with several projects introducing material reuse into that development process.
Among them is YOUTOPIA’s collaboration with Converse. Presented at Shanghai Fashion Week in October 2023, the third edition of the student designer programme invited YOUTOPIA award winners to create work inspired by skateboarding culture. Participants reconstructed fabrics and products that might otherwise have been discarded, continuing the “Remake” approach used in previous editions.
The project placed material experimentation within a professional collaboration. Working with existing products required designers to respond to their construction, proportions and available fabric, deciding what to retain, dismantle or transform. A presentation at Shanghai Fashion Week then brought those experiments before an industry audience.
Reuse also featured in YOUTOPIA’s wider community programme. A workshop advertised for its August 2025 Carnival invited participants to turn old clothing and fabric offcuts into hair accessories using sewing techniques. The public session extended the opportunity to explore textile reuse beyond the designers presenting collections.
Together, these activities connect practical experience of reconstruction with YOUTOPIA’s broader support for emerging talent. Alongside the workspace and business guidance available through JING’AN FASHION RESIDENCY, they illustrate how the platform supports different stages of a designer’s development, from experimenting with existing materials to establishing an independent practice.
For more information and YOUTOPIA updates, follow LABELHOOD on Instagram at @labelhood.official.
