FROM OFFCUTS TO HAUTE COUTURE: STUDENT DESIGNERS BACK LEATHER TO OUTLAST FAST FASHION
RLSD 2026 International finalists: winning designs from Apparel winner Tal Zohar, Accessories winner Siang-Ying Lu, Footwear winner Roscha Dinler, People’s Choice winner Tran Trong Nghi Nguyen, and Thailand host-nation representative Kittidech Chankraitho
Tal Zohar, from Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, Israel, wins the RLSD 2026 International Apparel category with The Neo-Heritage Tennis Club, inspired by tennis heritage and sporting style.
Roscha Dinler, from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, wins the RLSD 2026 International Footwear category with Fragmented Structure, a design inspired by Kintsugi and created using leather scraps and offcuts.
Tran Trong Nghi Nguyen, from Ton Duc Thang University, Vietnam, wins the RLSD 2026 People’s Choice Award with Champa – The Legacy, inspired by the art of Bàu Trúc pottery and the cultural heritage of Champa.
Siang-Ying Lu, from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA, wins the RLSD 2026 International Accessories category with Playscape, a sculptural leather bag inspired by Isamu Noguchi’s playgrounds.
Student designers from four countries champion leather, circularity and craftsmanship as they head to Bangkok for the RLSD 2026 international final.
Four category winners have been named in the 2026 Real Leather. Stay Different. International Student Design Competition, with entries ranging from a leather-quilted jacket inspired by 1970s tennis style to an evening gown modelled on the cracked textures of fired clay.
What unites the winning designs is craftsmanship and well-chosen materials that break the fast-fashion cycle either thanks to their durability or recyclability. Several of the standout pieces were made almost entirely from offcuts and scraps that would otherwise go to landfill. Chicago-based designer Siang-Ying Lu's winning accessory, Playscape, started as a single circle of leftover leather, folded and stitched without a single additional cut. Germany's Roscha Dinler built a shoe directly on a last using scrap leather, taking cues from Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, to turn imperfection into beauty.
The competition's real message is about circularity. Real leather is a by-product of the meat and dairy industries that's durable, reusable and biodegradable, unlike synthetic leathers and low-cost fabrics that are cheap, petroleum-based and don't break down on disposal.
The four category and People's Choice winners, representing Israel, the US, Germany and Vietnam, now travel to Bangkok, where they'll be joined by Thailand's own national winner, Kittidech Chankraithong, whose collection is inspired by everyday Thai commuter life and uses a centuries-old Thai royal gilding technique.
They'll compete to become the 2026 Real Leather Stay Different Student Designer of the Year in front of a judging panel that includes Hugo Boss Ticino managing director Christopher Koerber, ASAVA founder Polpat "Moo" Asavaprapha - who recently dressed BLACKPINK's Lisa for a visit to Buckingham Palace - and New Balance innovation designer Ashin Zhou.
The final takes place October 29 at Bangkok's historic Jim Thompson House. It's the latest stop for a competition that has previously held its finals in Taipei, London and Milan.
Amanda Symm, Leather & Hide Council of America, said: “Every year, RLSD reminds us just how much imagination, intelligence and craftsmanship the next generation of designers is bringing to leather. This year’s winners are exceptional. The quality of their work is impeccable, and each has found a very personal and original way to use a natural material and to approach waste reduction, longevity, cultural storytelling or experimentation.”
ENDS
For more information on the competition, judges and final event, visit: www. chooserealleather.com
Media contact: info@chooserealleather.com
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Notes to editors
2026 Category Winners
- Tal Zohar (Apparel): The Neo-Heritage Tennis Club - from Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, Israel
- Siang-Ying Lu (Accessories): Playscape - from SAIC School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA
- Roscha Dinler (Footwear): Fragmented Structure - from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
- Tran Trong Nghi Nguyen (People's Choice): Champa - The Legacy – from Ton Duc Thang, Vietnam
- Kittidech Chankraithong (Host Nation representative + Thailand winner): RODE-MAIL - from Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand
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About the Competition
The RLSD International Student Design Competition is a free-to-enter programme open to students and recent graduates, offering emerging designers the opportunity to showcase the beauty, versatility and sustainability of real leather on a global stage. The competition is sponsored by the Leather and Hide Council of America and delivered in partnership with Arts Thread.
More information: https://linktr.ee/chooserealleather
Greg Moore
gt&i Limited
greg@gtandi.co.uk
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A New City. A New Chapter. Watch the RLSD 2026 Final Destination Reveal.
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