New Wave

For 25 years, RCW has been valuing, encouraging, and supporting young designers who have launched their careers in the fashion industry. We seek innovative ideas, unique perspectives, contemporary aesthetics, design revolutions, reinterpretations, and out-of-the-box approaches, all through the lens of the fashion industry’s future creators.

One of the following aesthetic directions is necessary:

• Game-Changer
• Neo Avant-garde
• Upcycling/Sustainability/ Responsible Design
• Conceptual Fashion.

Eligible participants for the Call include Graduates of Art Universities and/or other higher education institutions who are actively involved in Fashion and have already created at least one collection. Young creatives/designers who have launched their own collection on the market can also take part.

The submitted collection must not have been presented on any catwalk before ROMANIAN CREATIVE WEEK 2025.

The collection submitted must have between 13-17 complete outfits. The application can include either photos of existing outfits, sketches of outfits, or a combination of photos and sketches.

Cover letter of one A4 page, indicating the approach direction, expressing a preference for one of the aesthetic directions, incorporating elements of sustainability, and stating motivation to be part of RFW NEW WAVE.

Up-to-date CV or Artist BIO.

• November 20th, 2024 – launching the theme on romaniancreativeweek.ro and on RCW social media accounts.
• January 20th, 2025 – closing applications.
• January 31st, 2025 – announcing the designers who will be part of the RFW NEW WAVE 2025
  selection. A jury of industry professionals will nominate the selected designers.
• May 24th, 2025 – the collections of the selected designers will be presented during ROMANIAN
  CREATIVE WEEK, ROMANIAN FASHION WEEK, RFW NEW WAVE.
• The jury will award a special RFW AWARD of 3000 Eur for the most creative collection and
  an invitation to be part of the curatorial selection of the RFW NEW WAVE section in 2026.

• Individual/cultural expression
• Individuality and personal footprint/approach
• Innovation
• Originality
• Relevance
• Social impact
• The technical approach (a criteria that will be considered in the judging in May 2025 – when
  the winner will be decided)
• Quality of complete collection implementation (a criteria that will be considered in the judging
  in May 2025 – when the winner will be decided).

ALEXANDRU ABAGIU, LUCIAN BROSCĂȚEAN, OVIDIU BUTA, IOANA CIOLACU, SORIN STRATULAT

Good luck & creative energy for working on sketches and collections!

RCW is an intersecting platform for emerging creative languages. Within RCW, various expressions and forms of Art, Design, and creativity come together to interact and generate new areas of communication and collaboration. In RCW, artistic expressions, conceptual design, technological innovation, and cultural trends not only coexist but also intertwine organically, creating syncretic and fertile spaces for new forms of interdisciplinary communication and collaboration.

RFW ACADEMIA & RFW NEW WAVE are coordinated by Lucian Broscățean and Ioana Ciolacu. The platforms continue the mission of the Young Designers and Debut Section of ROMANIAN FASHION WEEK, which since the late 90s has discovered, launched, promoted, and supported many designers who are now successful through their brands, or in national and international professional environments.

Within ROMANIAN FASHION WEEK and as part of the ROMANIAN CREATIVE WEEK festival, the RFW section contributes to building ecosystems that generate ideas, concepts, stories, and visual identities relevant to the creative industries.

ROMANIAN CREATIVE WEEK is organized by ROMANIAN CREATIVE INDUSTRIES BUSINESS FEDERATION (FEPIC) – the only nationally representative employers’ federation working in the Creative Industries cluster in Romania. It was established in Iasi in August 2011. So far, FEPIC has organized more than 50 national and international promotion actions for the Romanian creative industries, including fields such as fashion design, film and television industry, advertising, IT, music, and so on.

The main goal of FEPIC is to support creatives and creativity directly. It is also important to bring together young creatives and established names in Romanian creativity with the shared goal of promoting, developing, and strengthening the creative industries in Romania and the region. The objectives of FEPIC include areas related to mutual recognition and administrative support of creativity, as well as identifying ways in which creativity can and should contribute to the economic, cultural, and social development of communities.