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International Lab of Mittelmoda

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For the next generation of fashion talent. Discover the 2026 finalists👇🏽

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The wait is over.

After weeks of careful evaluation, creative dialogue and thoughtful consideration, we are proud to announce the finalists of the 32nd Edition of International Lab of Mittelmoda – The Fashion Award.

Every portfolio represented a unique vision of fashion. Every project reflected months of research, experimentation and dedication.

To all the designers who took part in this edition: thank you for sharing your creativity with us.

To our finalists: congratulations. Your journey continues, and we look forward to welcoming you to Milan for the final event.

Discover the complete list of finalists at the link in our bio. by @mittelmoda

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37

3 months ago

Meet the finalists

Emma Gerlin [Italy]
ITS Cosmo Fashion Academy

What if beauty depended entirely on the eyes through which we see the world?

With her project “ESSERE”, Emma Gerlin explores this question by stepping outside the human perspective and imagining how insects might perceive, interpret and recognise beauty.

Through eyewear design, she translates these alternative points of view into different ideas of order, form and harmony. Each model becomes the expression of a possible reality, challenging our instinct to define beauty according to a single perspective.

At the heart of Emma’s work lies a simple yet powerful idea: what may appear as chaos to us can reveal a completely different kind of harmony when seen through another point of view.

Discover more about Emma’s work here: www.mittelmoda.com/designer/emma-gerlin by @mittelmoda

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0

10 hours ago

Meet the finalists: @arielle.silberstein

Arielle Silberstein [Israel]
Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art

Arielle Silberstein approaches fashion through a balance of creative exploration and precision. Her process moves from research and concept development to technical design and garment construction, translating ideas into carefully crafted pieces.
Curiosity for new tools and techniques sits alongside a strong focus on detail and functionality. For Arielle, each garment is the result of a continuous dialogue between research, craftsmanship and contemporary design, where creativity is shaped by a practical understanding of how a piece comes to life.
Her experience as an assistant to stylist Shiran Mania also gave her a first-hand understanding of the fast pace and practical demands of the fashion industry, strengthening her ability to combine creative thinking with precision, organisation and adaptability.

Discover more about Arielle’s work here: www.mittelmoda.com/designer/arielle-silberstein by @mittelmoda

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11 days ago

Meet the finalists: @annachiararabito

Annachiara Rabito [Italy]
NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano

For Annachiara Rabito, material is where every idea begins.
Growing up surrounded by fabrics and materials, she developed an early sensitivity to their qualities, behaviours and possibilities. Today, her practice explores how familiar materials can be transformed, repurposed and given new functions, challenging the way we usually perceive them.
Technical and contemporary fabrics meet natural and raw elements, creating contrasts between textures, functions and visual languages. Moving between fashion and accessories, Annachiara combines experimentation with a respect for traditional craftsmanship, exploring how material innovation can shape both aesthetics and function.
In 2025, she was awarded Emerging Designer at the 11th edition of Milano Moda Graduate, and she is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at NABA in Milan.

Discover more about Annachiara’s work here: www.mittelmoda.com/designer/annachiara-rabito by @mittelmoda

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7

12 days ago

Meet the finalists: @matildegorii

Matilde Gori [Italy]
Istituto Marangoni Firenze

For Matilde Gori, drawing was the first language through which ideas began to take shape. Fashion became the natural next step: a way to transform what starts on paper into garments, structures and tangible forms.

Her approach is rooted in a sartorial education built on research, precision and method, but it is through knitwear that Matilde found a new space for experimentation. Working with yarns has taught her to understand the behaviour and limits of materials, turning those constraints into opportunities for unexpected solutions.

Balancing sensitivity with a structured, hands-on approach, her practice explores the dialogue between technique and intuition. From drawing to tailoring and knitwear, fashion becomes a continuous process of translating thought into form while remaining open to what the material itself can suggest.

Discover more about Matilde’s work here:
www.mittelmoda.com/designer/matilde-gori by @mittelmoda

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13 days ago

Meet the finalists: @giulialin_

Giulia Lin [China]
Istituto Marangoni Firenze

Raised in Prato in a family connected to the fashion industry, Giulia Lin grew up surrounded by the rhythms of textile production and developed an early awareness of how garments are shaped not only by design, but also by the systems behind them. In her work, Prato becomes a lens through which to observe wider changes in contemporary society, from productivity and efficiency to the constant pressure of availability. Through fashion, she questions what has become normalized, turning familiar structures into a space for critical reflection.
Her collection, Hyphen, explores the tension between work and private life, between order and dissonance, through the deconstruction and reorganization of formal and domestic dressing. A key element of the project is the hand-quilted surface, which creates a dialogue between vision and touch, and between the ideal and the real.

Discover more about Giulia’s work here: www.mittelmoda.com/designer/giulia-lin by @mittelmoda

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17 days ago

Meet the finalists: @loopiotte

Lou Suchel [France]
Istituto Marangoni Milano

Lou Suchel’s path into fashion was anything but conventional. What began as an interest in science gradually turned into a stronger need to create, first through textiles and sustainability, and then through a deeper exploration of fashion’s ability to provoke, disturb and make people question what they see. For Lou, knitwear is both a medium and a language of experimentation. Drawn to the contrast between its soft or nostalgic image and its technical complexity, she uses it to explore illusion, imitation, disguise and surprise. Her work is rooted in craftsmanship, strengthened by hands-on learning and expanded through research into textile traditions in Southeast Asia and the impact of fashion on their preservation. Moving between maximalism and minimalism, craftsmanship and technology, past and future, Lou sees knitwear as a tool for cultural dialogue and positive change.

Discover more about Lou’s work here: www.mittelmoda.com/designer/lou-suchel by @mittelmoda

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5

18 days ago

Meet the finalists: @anna_mignolli

Anna Mignolli [Italy]
Istituto Secoli

Born and raised in Calabria, Anna Mignolli builds her creative language from family, places, memories and the small details of everyday life. For her, fashion is a way to express identity, question it and reimagine it.
After moving to Milan to study Fashion Design at IED and later specialising in womenswear pattern making at Istituto Secoli, Anna turned the experience of leaving home into part of her research, looking at her roots from a new perspective. Her creative process begins from within: personal and intuitive, before becoming silhouette, construction and aesthetics.
Her work translates where she comes from into contemporary fashion, using personal history as a starting point to understand who we are — and who we might become.

Discover more about Anna’s work here: www.mittelmoda.com/designer/anna-mignolli by @mittelmoda

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3

24 days ago

Meet the finalists: @nichidunaifen

Wenjun Gao [China]
Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera

Wenjun Gao’s practice is rooted in knitwear and textile experimentation, exploring the dialogue between light and shadow through photography-inspired knitted structures. By translating light patterns into texture, density and surface, she creates garments where contrast becomes part of the design language.
Her work combines a strong interest in functional design with a refined attention to craftsmanship, material and the body. Based in Milan, Wenjun continues to investigate how textile construction can turn image, movement and light into wearable forms.

Discover more about Wenjun’s work here: www.mittelmoda.com/designer/wenjun-gao by @mittelmoda

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0

a month ago

Meet the finalists: @arianastanciuarchives

Ariana Stanciu [Romania]
UNArte - National University of Arts Bucharest

Ariana Stanciu is a Romanian fashion designer based in Bucharest, working across conceptual womenswear, sculptural silhouettes and textile experimentation. Her practice begins with natural forms, shape and texture, which she translates into contemporary garments through draping, pattern making, textile manipulation and hands-on experimentation.
With a background in Fashion Design at UNArte, where she completed her BA and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree, Ariana’s work explores the point where craftsmanship and abstraction meet. Alongside fashion, her visual approach is also informed by her practice as a member of the Union of Visual Artists of Romania, helping shape silhouettes that transform the relationship between the body and the garment.

Discover more about Ariana’s work here:
www.mittelmoda.com/designer/ariana-stanciu by @mittelmoda

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5

a month ago

Meet the finalists: @ppping_c

Ping Chen [China]
Goldsmiths, University of London

Ping Chen is a London-based fashion designer and textile artist from South China whose practice explores body, identity and memory through experimental garment construction and textile-based research. He approaches clothing as a structure that can carry emotional and cultural meaning, rather than as a finished object alone.
With Thing in Itself, he reflects on the fluidity of masculinity and identity through reversible tailoring, multifunctional structures and memory-driven references to care. Drawing from gestures of carrying, caregiving and domestic labour, the collection turns softness into structure and rethinks what menswear can express.

Discover more about Ping’s work here: www.mittelmoda.com/designer/ping-chen by @mittelmoda

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a month ago

We are proud to see our former student Elia Degli Innocenti selected among the finalists of Mittelmoda – The Fashion Award.

For the competition, Elia further developed a project originally created during our Final Synthesis Studio class at @designmoda.polimi @school.design.polimi , which became his graduating thesis, exploring the codes of classic menswear through a contemporary perspective.

Starting from the traditional smoking jacket, the project investigates its construction, proportions and formal language, reinterpreting them through artisanal techniques and a meticulous design approach to garment making.

Congratulations Elia, and best of luck for this next step!
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@elia_degliinnocenti  @mittelmoda
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#Mittelmoda #FashionDesign #MenswearDesign #EmergingDesigner #Tailoring by @mittelmoda

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a month ago