REAL LEATHER. STAY DIFFERENT.
REAL LEATHER. STAY DIFFERENT.
REAL LEATHER. STAY DIFFERENT.
REAL LEATHER. STAY DIFFERENT. DESIGN COMPETITIONS
Our mission is to showcase the beauty, durability and sustainability of leather with original and innovative designs and in doing so cut waste, reduce the use of petroleum based synthetics and disrupt the fast fashion cycle. Real Leather. Stay Different. invites designers worldwide to showcase their talent by entering one of our design competitions.
We host an ever growing number of competitions around the world as we work in different regions to move the fashion agenda forward. We have regional competitions in China Mainland, Taiwan Region, Vietnam, Thailand and the whole of Africa in partnership with the Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI). These run alongside an International Student Design Competition open to students and recent graduates around the world.
Competitions
Africa
Winners Announced
China Mainland
Winners Announced
Taiwan Region
Winners Announced
Thailand
Winners Announced
Vietnam
Winners Announced
2025 Overall Winner Announced!
Previous Winners
Krittapas Santilinon
College: Academy of Art University
Course: Fashion design
Competition Name: Thailand Student Design Competition 2025
Categories: Footwear Category & Overall Winner
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Pattharanit Jongphoemwatthanaphon
College:
Course: Fashion design
Competition Name: Thailand Student Design Competition 2025
Categories: Accessories Winner
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Phanteera Thangthavornsirikul
College: Chulalongkorn University
Course: Fashion design
Competition Name: Thailand Student Design Competition 2025
Categories: Apparel Winner
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Vân Anh Nguyễn Thị
College: Ho Chi Minh City College of Industry and Trade
Course:
Competition Name: Vietnam Student Design Competition 2025
Categories: People’s Choice Award Winner
Location: Vietnam
Phạm Thị Ngọc Liên
College: Ho Chi Minh City College of Industry and Trade
Course: Footwear Technology
Competition Name: Vietnam Student Design Competition 2025
Categories: Footwear Category Winner
Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Phạm Lê Huỳnh
College: Ton Duc Thang University
Course:
Competition Name: Vietnam Student Design Competition 2025
Categories: Apparel Category Winner
Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai
College: Ton Duc Thang University
Course: Fashion Design BFA
Competition Name: Vietnam Student Design Competition 2025
Categories: Overall & Accessory Category Winner
Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Mor Elfassy
College: Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, Tel Aviv
Course: Fashion Design BFA
Competition Name: International Student Design Competition 2024
Categories: International Apparel Design
Location: Tel Aviv, Isreal
Josslyn Shi
College: California College of the Arts
Course: Fashion Design BFA
Competition Name: International Student Design Competition 2024
Categories: International People’s Choice Award & Overall Winner
Location: California, USA
Roscha Dinler
College: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Course: Information Systems [Programming]
Competition Name: International Student Design Competition 2024
Categories: International Footwear Design
Location: Nuremberg, Germany
Bingbing Bai
College: Kingston School of the Art
Course: BA Fashion Design Womenswear, MPhil/ PhD (FT) Art & Design
Competition Name: International Student Design Competition 2024
Categories: International Accessory Design
Location: London United Kingdom
Hsu Yu
College: Shih Chien University
Course: Costume Design BFA
Competition Name: Taiwan Region Student Design Competition 2024
Categories: Taiwan Region Footwear Category & Overall Winner
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Zhu Xinxin
College: Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology
Course: Footwear & Accessory Design BFA
Competition Name: China Mainland Student Design Competition 2024
Categories: China Mainland Footwear Category & Overall Winner
Location: Beijing, China
Ruth Girmay
Self Employed
Competition Name: 2023 & 2024 African Talent Design Showcase
Title: Most Commendable Designer
Location: Ethiopia
Ana Del Rio Mullarkey
College: De Montfort University
Course: Fashion Design BFA
Competition Name: International & UK Student Design Competition 2023
Categories: INT Joint Overall & People’s Choice Award Category, UK Overall and Apparel Category
Location: Madrid / United Kingdom
Tamar Elbaz
College: Shenkar College of Engineering, Design & Art
Course: Fashion Design BFA
Competition Name: International Student Design Competition 2023
Categories: Joint Overall & Apparel Category
Location: Israel
Sara Veneziano
College: Accademia Costume & Moda
Course: Footwear & Accessory Design BFA
Competition Name: International Student Design Competition 2023
Categories: Footwear Category
Location: Italy
Alida Xavier
College: Instituto Marangoni: Fashion, Art and Design
Course: MA Luxury Accessory Design and Management
Competition Name: International Student Design Competition 2023
Categories: Accessory Category
Location: London, United Kingdom
Pei Yan Kang
College: Shih Chien University
Course: Fashion Design BA
Competition Name: Taiwan Region Student Design Competition 2023
Categories: Overall & Apparel Category
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Andrei Valera
College: De La Salle College of Saint Benilde
Course: Fashion Design and Merchandising
Competition Name: Philippines Student Design Competition 2023
Categories: Overall & Apparel Category
Location: Philippines
Silja Setala
College: Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
Course: Textile Design BFA
Competition Name: Nordic Region Student Design Competition 2023
Categories: Overall & Accessory Category
Location: Finland
Lingling Li
College: Jiangxi Institute of Fashion Technology
Course: Clothing and Apparel Design
Competition Name: China Mainland Student Design Competition 2023
Categories: Overall & Apparel Category
Location: Jiangxi, China
Emilia Utbult Karlsson
College: Beckmans College of Design, Sweden
Course: Fashion BA
Competition Name: Nordic Region Student Design Competition 2022
Categories: Overall & Apparel Category
Location: Sweden
Emily Omesi
College: Fashion Institute of Technology
Course: Fashion Design BFA
Competition Name: International Student Design Competition 2021
Categories: Overall & Apparel Category
Location: New York, USA
Yu Lun Lu
College: Shih Chien University
Course: Fashion Design BA
Competition Name: Taiwan Region Student Design Competition 2022
Categories: Overall & Apparel Category
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Gal Benjamin
College: Shenkar College of Engineering, Design & Art
Course: Fashion Design BDES
Competition Name: International Student Design Competition 2022
Categories: Overall & Apparel Category
Location: Israel/London, UK
Anna Melegh
College: London College of Fashion
Course: Footwear MA
Competition Name: UK Student Design Competition 2022
Categories: Overall & Footwear Category
Location: London, UK
YunTian Dong
College: Donghua University
Course: Fashion Art Design BA
Competition Name: China Mainland Student Design Competition 2022
Categories: Overall & Accessory Category
Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
Latest News
British Student Wins RLSD 2025 international fashion Awards in 5th year
Taipei, Taiwan [28 October 2025] – At an awards ceremony held today at Taiwan’s Taipei 101 for the Real Leather. Stay Different. (RLSD) 2025 International Student Design Competition, judges crowned Jamie Unlu O’Grady, from the UK’s De Montfort University, as the competition’s “Overall Winner 2025”. O’Grady’s modular footwear design SubTraction captivated judges with its blend of innovation, sustainability and design integrity.
Ruth Girmay: Most Commendable Designer at the 2024 African Talent Leather Design Showcase.
Ruth was awarded Most Commendable Designer for the second consecutive year for her design, ‘Overfishing Bag’. Her design was recently displayed at the International Real Leather. Stay Different. Award ceremony in the US Embassy, London.
2024 Real Leather. Stay Different. China Mainland Student Design Competition crowns new stars of leather design!
The winners of the China Mainland Student Design Competition have been named at a glamourous awards ceremony in Shanghai.
2024 Real Leather. Stay Different. Taiwan Award ceremony celebrates green trends through leather design
The winners of the Real Leather. Stay Different. Taiwan Region Student Design Competition were announced at an awards ceremony and runway show at HANASPACE in Taipei.
JOSSLYN SHI FROM USA WINS 2024 INTERNATIONAL STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION
Josslyn Shi from California College of Art has been crowned Overall Winner of the Real Leather. Stay Different. International Student Design Competition at a glittering final event held at the U.S. Embassy in London.
TAIWAN 2023 OVERALL WINNER CHOSEN AFTER HARD-FOUGHT COMPETITION
Third Student Design Competition climaxes in runway show and celebration as design ‘Gestation’ is named the best. Pei Yan Kang of Shih Chien University won the overall prize in this year’s Real Leather. Stay Different. Student Design Competition.
2025 Taiwan Region Shortlisted Designs:
2025 Vietnamese Shortlisted Designs:
REAL LEATHER. STAY DIFFERENT.
REAL LEATHER. STAY DIFFERENT.
REAL LEATHER. STAY DIFFERENT.
ABOUT REAL LEATHER. STAY DIFFERENT.
RLSD is a global campaign funded by the Leather & Hide Council of America. It has reached some 750 million people and hundreds of thousands of students and makes the case for the use of leather and other natural materials as critical to a more sustainable future. RLSD points out that we should make the best use of society’s waste and that hides, as the by-product of the dairy and meat industries, should be used rather than landfilled as 130 million hides are every year, cutting CO2 emissions, cutting reliance on synthetics, creating longer lasting materials and challenge the fast fashion cycle.
For those who ask, we do NOT allow any entries using furs and other exotic materials. This campaign is about our responsibility to use society’s waste and to reduce consumption.
