SHEIN, a global online fashion and lifestyle retailer, has expanded its hugely successful SHEIN X Challenge to include participants from all over the world, including Japan and Brazil, where the SHEIN X Designer Incubator Program has recently launched.
SHEIN X Challenge 2023 was only open to submissions from EU member states and the United Kingdom. In response to the overwhelming demand from designers around the world, SHEIN X Challenge 2024 will accept submissions from global participants.
The SHEIN X Challenge is an initiative under the SHEIN X Designer Incubator Program, which celebrates its third anniversary in 2024. From only seven designers when the program launched in January 2021, the SHEIN X Designer Incubator Program has grown to more than 4,600 designers and artists from around the world, launching more than 41,000 original creations.
This year, aspiring designers from around the world who wish to participate must submit three complete Spring Summer 2024 women’s looks (top and bottom) to the SHEIN X Challenge 2024 website. The theme for this year’s design challenge is “Radiance”. The deadline for submission is 23:59:59, 15 February 2024, local time.
All submissions that meet the entry requirements and criteria will be published on the SHEIN X Challenge website where members of the public can vote for their favourite submissions. The top 20 submissions will advance to the second round, where judges will identify the 10 finalists of the SHEIN X Challenge 2024.
The judges for SHEIN X Challenge 2024 have been chosen for their wealth of experience across various sectors of the fashion industry, and comprises industry juggernauts, such as Adrien Roberts (International Fashion Education Consultant, Italy), Julien Fournié (Founder of Julien Fournié Haute Couture, Paris), Jill Wanless (Editor, United Kingdom), and Colin Horgan (Independent Designer, Ireland).
“Competitions like the SHEIN X Challenge are crucial because there is an abundance of raw talent waiting to be discovered. Providing these aspiring designers with platforms allows them to express their creativity and showcase their designs,” said Jill Wanless, SHEIN X Challenge Judge, 2023 and 2024.
Shortlisted submissions will be judged based on the participant’s ability to translate a strong, original concept into design, while balancing customer demands, seasonal trends, and commercial viability.
As part of their journey, all 10 finalists will have the opportunity to partake in a masterclass by the judges, as well as workshops on sustainable fashion, before they present their submissions to the judges at the final round of SHEIN X Challenge 2024. The winners will be announced in March, 2024. The submission with the most online votes will walk away with EUR10,000. Judges will also select three submissions for special awards that will win EUR5,000 each. A further six finalists will go home with EUR3,000 each. SHEIN X Challenge 2024 will culminate in a glitzy runway show that will be streamed for global audiences.
In September 2023, SHEIN announced that an additional US$50 Million will be committed towards the SHEIN X Designer Incubator Program, to empower up to 5,000 emerging designers over five years to build their own successful brands. This additional funding will bring the company’s total investment into the SHEIN X Designer Incubator Program to US$105 Million till 2028.