Recently, Xie Yanzi, a student majoring in Fashion Innovation at Shanghai International College of Fashion and Innovation (SCF College), Donghua University, won the Gold Award at the London Design Awards for her IP project Flora Quan.
As a prestigious international design competition, the London Design Awards brings together creative works from around the globe, spanning fields such as product design, architecture, interior design, graphic design, and UX/UI design. It holds significant influence and professional recognition in the global design community.
(Xie Yanzi’s work: Flora Quan)
The 2025 London Design Awards attracted over 2,300 entries. The project Flora Quan stood out after rigorous selection and fierce competition. The IP takes visual inspiration from Xunpu women’s floral headdresses (a cultural symbol of Quanzhou, Fujian) and Southern Fujian’s architectural element “dripping beast.” The design reconstructs the layered structure of the floral headdresses and the form of the “beast,” while incorporating other intangible cultural heritage elements such as Mamianqun (horse-face skirt) patterns and the interlocking motifs of Southern Fujian red-brick houses. This fusion ensures the IP retains the essence of traditional culture while appealing to contemporary aesthetics.
The work demonstrates Xie Yanzi’s creativity and competitiveness in digital cultural innovation, showcasing the fruits of the college’s teaching approach—integrating creative logic, cultural expression, and technological application. It illustrates the benefits of a new paradigm for design education, one that combines cultural heritage and technological innovation.
By leveraging AIGC technology to blend intangible cultural symbols, such as floral headdresses and dripping beast ornaments, the project validates the feasibility of the “cultural decoding + technological empowerment” methodology. This serves as a valuable reference case for the development of digital cultural and creative industries.
SCF College is an innovative Chinese-foreign cooperative education institution established in China through international academic and educational collaboration, with a focus on fashion innovation. Centered on disciplines such as fashion design innovation and fashion management, the college has built an interdisciplinary training system covering cutting-edge fields like circular design, eco-materials, and sustainable brand strategy and communication. It actively explores new modes and mechanisms for Chinese-foreign cooperative education, dedicated to cultivating high-quality innovative talents with a global vision. The award also reflects the achievements of Donghua University’s international talent development initiatives.
