+++ Two-day FashionTEX festival ended with a spectacular show at fabrik Chemnitz +++ Vincent Röse wins European Next Generation – Fashion 2025 award +++ 24 international students from across Europe presented their creations to a high-profile jury +++
Chemnitz becomes the hotspot of European fashion for two days
The two-day FashionTEX fashion event came to an end today amid great media interest in front of several hundred guests at the ‘fabrik Chemnitz’ with a spectacular show hosted by star designer Thomas Rath. From a9mong the 24 international students from eleven European fashion universities, the six-member jury selected Vincent Röse as the winner of the European sponsorship award ‘Next Generation – Fashion 2025’. Second prize went to Joanne-Heleene Sõrmus from the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn.
The prize winners
23-year-old Vincent Röse is in his fifth semester of fashion design studies at the Faculty of Applied Arts in Schneeberg and works at the interface of technology, functionality and aesthetics. With his project ‘GORE LUX’, he impressed the jury with a hybrid design that blurs the boundaries between digital and physical fashion: a waterproof bomber jacket that can be transformed into an avant-garde coat using folding techniques.
The project ‘I Don’t Know Who I Am, but I Have a Six-Pack’ by Joanne-Heleene Sõrmus, a second-year master’s student at the Estonian Academy of Arts, explores the intersections between the body, technology and materials research. The title of her creation reflects a self-deprecating yet sincere search for identity – in a culture characterised by discipline, digital tools and physical transformation.
Focus on change in the fashion industry
The international fashion event FashionTEX focused primarily on the profound change in the fashion industry, which is characterised by comprehensive digitalisation, innovative textiles and the use of artificial intelligence. For two days, Chemnitz became the hotspot of European fashion.
In almost 20 discussion rounds over two days, internationally renowned fashion experts debated the challenges and opportunities facing the entire industry. The two-day event attracted a great deal of media interest. On the first day of the festival, Saxony’s Ministers of State Barbara Klepsch (Culture and Tourism) and Conrad Clemens (Culture) were guests.
In the former tulle factory in the west of Chemnitz, 24 aspiring fashion designers studying at eleven European universities from Portugal to Croatia, Lithuania and the Netherlands presented their creations to a wide audience. The two best of them were awarded prizes during the big fashion show.
The EU project FashionTEX Festival has established the first major platform at the ‘fabrik’ Chemnitz to showcase the rapid developments in the fashion industry. The international university project builds on the city’s textile tradition and great industrial history, while also demonstrating that fashion is not only an economic factor, but also a cultural expression of innovation and change.
Innovation exhibition & smart partners
Leading companies, start-ups and research institutes presented their latest developments in textile technology, digitalisation and sustainable design.
- Deutsche Telekom – innovation driver for digital education & AI expertise
- Hohenstein Laboratories GmbH – textile testing, sustainability & smart textiles
- Vizoo GmbH – Pioneer in material digitalisation with xTex technology
- Botspot Berlin – High-end 3D scanning for fashion, fit & avatars
- CLO 3D / Cloo3D – Real-time 3D visualisation & virtual prototypes
- Modespitze Plauen GmbH – Craftsmanship meets AI in embroidery
The diverse exhibition brought digital transformation to life – from interactive avatars and intelligent fabrics to virtual catwalks and sustainable production solutions.
About FashionTEX
FashionTEX is a European Union-funded university project on digital transformation in fashion education. Eleven universities from ten countries are jointly developing new curricula, digital tools and hybrid learning environments.
The focus is on 3D design, virtual collaboration, sustainability & circular economy, and critical reflection on technological developments. At the heart of the project are makerspaces where students work with tools such as CLO3D, AR/VR, 3D scanning and AI-based design. The annual FashionTEX Festival presents these results and promotes exchange between industry, politics and education.
Photos of the entire fashion event
can be downloaded from both days with the copyright notice © Michael Schmidt at the following links:
