年轻设计师们展示时装作品

Now, Dalian in northeast China’s Liaoning Province might not yet rank alongside Paris, Milan or New York as a world-class fashion hub. But no one can blame designers there for not trying. This week, it held a fashion event that highlighted the city’s rising talents - the Dalian International Fashion Festival. And one of the highlights was the "Dalian Cup" Young Designer contest.

The "Dalian Cup" Young Designer Contest is a great platform for rookie designers to make their names in the world of fashion.

Wang Tingting ,contestant, said,"It’s a great opportunity for us to show what we’ve got."

This year, the contest encourages young designers to interpret Chinese fashion to the world by using traditional elements. The contest committee received more than 870 designs from around 22 cities. And a total of 29 finalists were selected.

In the end, Zhao Yu, a student from Dalian University of Foreign Languages, took home the gold medal, with judges lauding his design as "simple yet exquisite".

Shao Daxi, judge, said,"I found the designs incredibly innovative. The fabrics and attention to detail may have been a bit lacking, but the ideas were great. These contestants are all enthusiastic and full of ambition and dreams."

Besides the "Dalian Cup", the Festival also featured fashion shows where top models and designers showcased the latest trends. A series of promotional activities, and the "Chinese and foreign national costume show" were also held.