A Generation of Designers Ready to Rise and Shine – ITS Contest 2026 Selected Designers Announced

The designers selected for the 2026 edition of ITS Contest are here, representing a new generation of emerging talents ready to shape the future of fashion. For them, fashion is a laboratory of identity, where transformation replaces definition and the body becomes a political arena. Their work blends a plurality of cultures, intertwining local traditions with global sensibilities, and embraces a critical approach that champions freedom of expression while rejecting every form of restriction and narrow-mindedness. For this year’s winners, the past is a lesson we have yet to truly learn. Chaos becomes a method: craftsmanship, awareness, and multiplicity shape their language.

Over two intense days of project viewings, the ITS Contest 2026 Jury encountered all of this before selecting the 10 designers who will travel to Trieste, Italy, in March next year to take part in the ITS Residency — a ten-day creative programme of one-of-a-kind workshops and networking with industry leaders.

Ten young designers are the winners of the I:C 10x10x10 Award. Each of them will receive €10,000, take part in the ten-day ITS Residency, and present their work in a dedicated ten-month exhibition at ITS Arcademy – Museum of Art in Fashion, Italy’s first contemporary fashion museum. They are: 

Darius Betschart, French
Steven Chevallier, French
Yi Ding, Chinese
Jamie O’Grady, British
William Palmer, British
Stan Peeters, Belgian
Chloë Reners, Belgian
Tidjane Tall, French
Anna Maria Vescovi, American
Wenji Wu, Chinese

You will be able to discover their work on our website and social media channels, so follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin. 

The spirit of this new generation of designers resonates in “Rise and Shine”, the theme that shapes ITS Contest 2026 — an invitation for young creatives

to take a stand and confront the challenges and uncertainties of our time with clarity, courage and imagination. It is a call to shine, to transform talent into action, because every spark can ignite another. To open up to different perspectives and all possibilities moving forward together, without fear stopping us. To challenge the present, rethink materials and forms, and imagine new ways of living in a more sustainable future.

We would like to thank the ITS Contest Jury for their commitment in evaluating all the projects with passion and expertise:

Barbara Franchin – President of Fondazione ITS
Carlo Giordanetti – CEO, Swatch Art Peace Hotel
Luca Rizzi – Pitti Immagine Tutoring & Consulting Director, e-P Summit Project Leader
Stefania Ricci – Director, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo and Fondazione Ferragamo
Andrea Rosso – OTB Sustainability Ambassador
Orsola De Castro – Author, activist, creative director at Estethic
Matteo Ward – CEO Inside Out Fashion Textiles & Home
Maximillian Raynor – Designer, winner of the ITS Contest 2025 Jury’s Rewarding Honours
Tom Eerebout – Stylist and Fashion Consultant
Valentina Maggi – Director of Creative Practice, Floriane de St Pierre & Associés
Deanna Ferretti – Founder, Miss Deanna and Co-Founder Modateca Deanna
Sonia Veroni – CEO, Modateca Deanna, Director of Master in Creative Knitwear Design di Accademia Costume & Moda
Sara Sozzani Maino – Creative Director, Sozzani Foundation
Odunayo Ojo – Youtuber, Fashion Journalist
Paola Catapano – Science Communicator, Head of Editorial Content Production, CERN
Marco Sammicheli – Curator for Design, Fashion, Crafts at Triennale Milano / Director Museo del Design Italiano

Here are some of their comments on the selection process:

“A strong sense of discomfort with the current state of the world does not trigger alienation from reality for this group of designers, but rather the act to rise and take action!”

Matteo Ward – CEO Inside Out Fashion Textiles & Home

“I was surprised by the level of quality and craftmanship, the use of interesting materials, the level of research and referencing.”

Orsola de Castro – Co-Founder of Fashion Revolution and Estethica

“A generation increasingly aware of how certain political and social struggles can be expressed through creativity applied to fashion is emerging. Moreover, it is clear that some European schools remain the laboratory of the future.”

Marco Sammicheli – Curator for Design, Fashion, Crafts at Triennale Milano / Director Museo del Design Italiano

“The designers of today embed sustainability into the framework of their collections. It’s great to see this shift after a period when we had to communicate to designers to consider sustainability”

Odunayo Ojo – Youtuber Fashion Journalist

The journey to March 2026 begins, and with it the next chapter of the designers’ creative exploration. Ten voices, ten visions of the future expressed through fashion. You’ll be able to discover their work next spring in Trieste, in the “Rise and Shine” exhibition at ITS Arcademy, before it becomes part of our Collection archive of over 15,000 visionary pieces.