After weeks of mostly-virtual shows in New York and Europe, the energy at Shanghai Fashion Week is palpable—even from 7,300 miles away. The shows began today and run through April 13 with more than 100 events, many of them physical shows featuring packed audiences. Most designers are actually staging their shows twice: once for press and celebrities, and once for young consumers.

Earlier today, investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Wendy Yu kicked things off with a gala at the Yu Garden to announce the winner of the Yu Prize, her new award for emerging designers in China. Yu and her jurors, including Shanghai Fashion Week’s Madame Lu, Giambattista Valli, Vogue’s Chioma Nnadi, Jason Wu, Edison Chen, Labelhood’s Tasha Liu, and Andrew Bolton, spent the past month meeting with 16 designers (IRL and virtually) to review a series of presentations and creative assignments. “These designers are part of the new wave,” Yu says. “They are not only designers, but culture-changers as we move from ‘made in China’ to ‘created in China.’ They represent Chinese creativity that honors its roots, but is also innovative, confident, and globally adaptive.”

Yu’s ambition was to promote all of the designers and identify the ones that could be successful on a global scale with the appropriate funding and support. Last night, she awarded Chenpeng’s Peng Chen the top prize: one million renminbi, or $150,000; the opportunity to sell his collections at Harrods; and a year-long mentoring program with Only the Brave’s Renzo Rosso. Yu also announced three additional prizes: Susan Fang took home the Yu Prize Creative Pioneer Award in partnership with Piaget, a prize of 300,000 renminbi (or $45,000); Donsee10’s Danqi Chen picked up the Yu Prize Sustainability Champion award in partnership with Rémy Martin for a bag made from “grape leather” upcycled from the winemaking process, with a prize of 100,000 renminbi, or $15,000; and At-One-Ment’s Wanbing Huang won the Yu Prize Infinite Beauty award in partnership with Yumee for a project inspired by the makeup brand’s signature lipstick, with a prize of 100,000 renminbi, or $15,000.

“I hope to build our own e-commerce team with the prize fund,” Chen tells Vogue. “Because of COVID-19, it [has] become crucial for designers [to] not only think about how to express their creative ideas, but also make sure customers can understand our creativity without the presence of a physical show or traditional retail environment. I always think that good ideas should be easily understood, and the more people, the better. E-commerce is the most essential tool of all in this day and age. We have seen such success stories. And I am hoping to launch a model that’s suited for a designer brand like us. In addition, as part of a young generation of Chinese designers, I would like to do my part in ensuring the global success of ‘created in China.’ ”