On April 1, the 11th edition of “New Edge Donghua: Wisdom-Endowed New Voice” made its debut on the “THE NEXT New Power” graduate collection launch platform at the AW2026 Shanghai Fashion Week.
The 2026 edition of “New Edge Donghua: Wisdom-Endowed New Voice” proclaims: Not confined by conventions, not misled by inertia. It harnesses the power of the intelligent era to shatter creative boundaries, allowing individual aesthetics, emotions, and spiritual aspirations to be sublimated to the utmost through technological empowerment. Driven by this philosophy, the “New Edge” designers uphold the creed: “Take the self as the source, garments as the vehicle, and innovation as the strategy.” With cross-disciplinary practice as their blade and intelligence as their bridge, they fuse technology and art, tradition and breakthrough, reason and absurdity. Through avant-garde design, they interpret the very “newness” of fashion, and with an unstoppable, razor-sharp momentum, they define the future direction of Chinese youth fashion.
Sun Jie, Dean of the College of Fashion and Art Design at Donghua University, noted that Shanghai Fashion Week serves as an important platform for nurturing emerging design talent and empowering the development of China’s fashion industry. Currently, Donghua University has partnered with the Royal College of Art to establish the “RCA Shanghai Centre”, broadening international horizons for New Edge designers. Looking ahead, the College will continue to strengthen its deep engagement with the global fashion industry, transforming “New Edge Donghua” into an international platform that brings together the world’s top design talent, thereby sustaining its empowerment of the global fashion industry.
