Innovation Award 2024
Introducing the Ultrasuede® Innovation Award
In March 2019, Ultrasuede® launched the Ultrasuede® Innovation Award in collaboration with LABELHOOD, which operates select specialty stores in China and also serves as a fashion events incubator.
This is an initiative to support young Chinese designer brands that are expected to be successful in the future.
As a new stage of this initiative that has been held three times before (https://www.ultrasuede.toray/en/features/collabo/future_support/labelhood.html), from 2022 onwards, Ultrasuede® will independently select designers to receive a cash prize of 100,000 RMB and receive both materials and technical support from Ultrasuede® to participate in a show at Shanghai Fashion Week.
2023 Prize Winner
LOUIS SHENGTAO CHEN
After graduating from Central Saint Martins College in London with a Master of Fashion and Bachelor of Fashion degrees, he founded his eponymous womenswear brand in 2021. In 2023, he was named a semi-finalist of the LVMH PRIZE.
Louis has worked for Spain's Loewe and the UK's Kiko Kostadinov and Burberry. His designs are influenced by these European experiences combined with the cultures and traditions of his native China, and he expresses his newly defined worldviews through his collections.
The theme of his 24AW collection is "The Woman who's angry." Against the backdrop of the long-term pandemic and economic instability, the collection expresses the courageous image of a woman who may be fragile and introverted, but still boldly and powerfully lives in the present. The Ultrasuede® series, with its signature rose-patterned print that runs in shades from pink to a deep, burning crimson, as well as a delicate spotted fawn print, are among the most prominent in the current collection, with the material's smoothness and flexibility used to reflect women's delicacy and strength.
LOUIS SHENGTAO CHEN’s works
LOUIS SHENGTAO CHEN’s works
