Exploring the Infinite Possibilities of Cashmere!

2025.08.20

The “YOUNG·Fiber—2025 China Innovation & Creative Design Competition” Achievement Exhibition & Awards Ceremony was held in Dongcheng District, Ordos, on July 18, 2025, co-organized by the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University (AADTHU), the China National Arts & Crafts Society, Ordos High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, and the People’s Government of Dongcheng District, Ordos. Concurrently, the “Gathering Innovation in Cashmere, Weaving the Future: 2025 High-end Cashmere & Wool Summit” took place.

Centered on the theme “Exploring the Infinite Possibilities of Cashmere Fiber,” the competition, launched on April 20, attracted over 1,400 submissions from universities, institutions, and independent designers nationwide. Entries spanned three categories, Fashion Design, Home & Lifestyle Creation, and Public Art, showcasing cashmere’s transformative potential in contemporary aesthetics, daily life, and societal discourse. After rigorous evaluation by experts, 73 winning works (Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Excellence Awards) were selected and exhibited, creating a multidimensional dialogue on material, design, and culture.

AADTHU’s Leadership & Empowerment: Bridging China’s Collaborative Design Ecosystem

This competition exemplifies AADTHU’s commitment to “Design Serving National Strategies” and “Design Synergizing Regional Development.” Through systematic frameworks, jury composition, competition structure, and post-competition commercialization mechanisms, the event forged an integrated ecosystem of “Design–Material–Manufacturing–Communication,” with academia as the pivot, youth as the core, and industry as the anchor, driving sustainable, high-quality design innovation in China.

At the opening ceremony of the 8th China (Ordos) International Cashmere & Wool Exhibition, Prof. Fang Xiaofeng, Vice Dean of AADTHU, announced the winners. Tan Chuan (Party Secretary of Tsinghua AAD), Xu Dong (Vice Chairman & Secretary-General of China National Arts & Crafts Society), Tian Haipeng (Party Branch Secretary of CAFA’s School of City Design), and Han Tao (District Mayor of Dongcheng, Ordos) jointly presented the awards.

Awards Ceremony | “YOUNG·Fiber 2025 China (Ordos) Creative Design Competition”

Qin Chuan emphasized AADTHU’s efforts in transforming academic resources into societal impact through “Design+Industry,” “Design+Rural Revitalization,” and “Design+Technology”, a model for deeper university-region collaborations. Xu Dong highlighted the competition’s role in bridging design education with market needs, praising its innovative judging criteria and industry-shaping potential for arts and crafts.

Exhibition

The competition’s judging panel, chaired by Prof. Fang Xiaofeng, included: Tian Haipeng (CAFA), Ni Yuehong (Director, Fiber Art & Design Committee, China National Arts & Crafts Society), Wang Yutao (Vice Chairman, China Fashion Designers Association).

The winning works demonstrated young designers’ diverse reinterpretations of cashmere, a traditional material. A post-exhibition commercialization mechanism will facilitate the transition from concept to product, ensuring real-world industrial application.

“Gathering Innovation in Cashmere—Weaving the Future” 2025 Summit. Chaired by Yue Song, Director of the Department of Arts and Crafts at AADTHU. Academic presentations were delivered by Japanese designer CHIYUKI, Li Yingjun, Director of the Department of Textile and Fashion Design at AADTHU, Li Lijun, Vice General Manager of Ningbo Cixing Co., Ltd., award winner representative Xu Jingyi, Damon Frank Giannocaro, Chief Creative Officer of Italian brand Giannoccaro Italia, and Li Wenzhi, President of Ordos Fashion Designers Association.

The discussions explored industry upgrades, sustainable branding, and pathways to globalize design outcomes, injecting youthful vitality into China’s cashmere and wool sector.